


There's a new doctor in town

by DeFrankie



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-29 05:38:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 42,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10847562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeFrankie/pseuds/DeFrankie
Summary: AU: Doctor Alex Danvers is the new Chief Medical Examiner at the NCPD and on her way to her first crime scene. She meets Detective Maggie Sawyer there, and her ass of a partner, Maxwell Lord. The beginning of a working relationship, friendship, and even more? Sanvers endgame, slow burn. Rated M for future themes, not explicit sexual content.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So while I'm busy editing my NANO16 story, I thought I could use a break and write some fresh material. I can't promise regular updates, but I hope you like where I'm going with this story. I've been wanting to write about Alex Danvers ever since I first saw her.
> 
> It has also been a while since I shared my work with someone other than my best friend, so be gentle with me. I'm very nervous about it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, just borrowing them.

Of course her first crime scene as Chief Medical Examiner of the NCPD had to be at three in the morning, after game night with her sister and their friends.

Still sporting a slight buzz, dr Alex Danvers tried to hide her tiredness to her team. They were still getting used to her, so she wanted them to get to know her as their boss and colleague, not some hungover, still a little bit drunk, partygirl. She wasn't like that, having worked hard all of her life to become the youngest Chief ME ever in the country.

After checking once more if they had packed all of their equipment, she nodded at her assistant to gather everyone to start loading everything in the CSU van. She took her time pouring herself a fresh cup of coffee, that had been brewing during her last check. The heavenly liquid woke her up a little more, removing the last of that scotch James had brought out of her system.

Game night was a big thing to her sister, so it was for Alex as well. It was a time to be together with family, a family not determined by blood but by heart. Their consisted of herself, her adoptive sister Kara, and their best friends Winn and James. James usually brought his girlfriend Lucy, who had immediately clicked with Alex. Both women had fought hard for their careers, the younger Lane sister just now allowing herself to indulge in having a relationship.

It been Lucy who had told Alex about the open position of Chief ME at the NCPD, encouraging her to apply for it. Never in a million years Alex had thought she would've gotten the job, yet here she was, getting ready for her first crime scene.

Her assistant signaled her that they were ready to go. She quickly finished her cup of coffee and joined her team in the van.

***SANVERS***

"Have you seen the new Chief ME yet?" Max asked his partner.

His voice sounded way too eager, Maggie mused.

"No, I have been busy doing the paperwork of our last case, since you were too busy with Jones from Cells to help me with it."

He had the decency to only grin but shut up after that.

Maggie still remembered the day Sergeant Detective Lane had told her she would be partnered up with Detective Lord. She had heard of his reputation, yet he had seemed to impress the old Sergeant Detective, so he had gotten his promotion.

From the first second she had laid eyes on her new partner, she had detested him. He thought he was God's gift to women, his no partner no exception to that. Every second he had been flirting with Maggie, even though she had turned him down each time.

It was after a very emotionally exhausting case she had agreed to drinks with him, just as partners. He had still been flirting with her the entire time, and Maggie had been about to leave, when she noticed a very familiar face stalking her direction.

"Oh shit," Maggie said.

"What's wrong babe?" Maxwell Lord asked, already slurring a little bit from the multiple beers he had consumed.

"I'm not your babe," Maggie corrected him, before shit hit the fan.

"You never called!" the blonde who was now close enough, started yelling. "All those pretty words, and then nothing!"

Sighing audibly, the detective defused the situation rather quickly, apologizing to the girl for all the hurt she had caused. She even got a kiss out of it, and an order to call.

All the time, Max had been looking at them, mouth agape.

"What Lord?" Maggie asked. "Had no one told you yet I'm gay?"

Maggie snickered at the memory. He had proposed a bet, pulling the most women, but had pulled out only hours later, obviously getting his ass handed to him by his female partner. Since then, Max hadn't tried to hit on her again, and he had become slightly tolerable.

"Warner," Maggie greeted the officer at the scene.

"Sawyer," he nodded in return.

She passed the crime scene tape and turned around again, to officer Warner.

"Care to fill us in?" she asked.

"Female, no hands, no teeth and face seriously harmed by some sort of chemical solution. Jane Doe, and it looks like the perp wanted to make sure she stayed that way. CSU is already on scene."

"Thanks Warner," Maggie nodded, before she continued her track down the dump.

***SANVERS***

There was garbage everywhere, containing DNA from half the city. Her vic was mutilated so badly it would be a miracle if they would at some point be able to identify her.

Fuck my life, Alex thought, keeping a close eye on her team while they bagged the evidence, occasionally correcting them or pointing out stuff they had missed. I'm working with amateurs, she thought, sighing. She herself focused on the body, and was busy taking the liver temperature of the victim to determine time of death, when two detectives approached her.

***SANVERS***

Damn, Maggie thought, that's why Lord must've noticed her.

She was currently looking at a tall brunette woman, who made pushing a tall metal instrument into a corpse look sexy. The new Chief ME was so far out of her league, she could barely notice her form in the distance anymore.

Max on the other hand, didn't come to the same conclusion, his ego getting the better of him.

"They told me you were extremely smart," he started, when they had approached the doctor, "but they failed to mention how extremely beautiful you are as well."

Oh, if looks could kill, Maggie mused. She decided to at least try to save her partner from the embarrassment.

"You must be Doctor Danvers. My name is Detective Maggie Sawyer I apologise for my partner, he seems to have been dropped on his head once too many times when he was a baby," she said, offering her hand.

The brunette took of her right glove, and accepted Maggie's hand. To the detective it felt like sparks flew through her body, which she quickly blamed on the static current the glove must've left.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much about this victim yet, detectives," the doctor said, completely ignoring the offered hand of the other detective. "Whoever killed her, wanted to keep her identity a secret, that's for sure. It won't be easy to identify her, or her killer."

"Once a Jane Doe, always a Jane Doe?" Max tried to crack a joke, but failed miserably.

He got the attention of Doctor Danvers again, alright.

"I said it won't be easy, not that it would be impossible," was the cold answer. "I suggest you start making yourself useful and help with identifying this poor woman and her attacker, instead of putting your foot in your mouth, Detective ..."

Maggie couldn't help but grin when she heard the new doctor taking none of Max' bullshit.

"Lord, Detective Maxwell Lord," she heard her partner mumble, lacking all of his usual confidence.

"Let's go," she pulled him with her by his arm. "Enough of this playing around. We've got a killer to catch. It was nice to meet you, doc."

With one last look over her shoulder to the doctor, Maggie dragged her partner away from the corpse, back towards their car.


	2. Chapter 2

"So how is your first corpse treating you?" Lucy asked Alex.

They were having lunch, because the younger Lane sister knew her friend would forget to eat when she was working on a new project.

"You know I can't share information about an ongoing investigation with you, Luce," Alex simply answered. "But this one is going to be a tough one."

"A perfect way to show off to your new coworkers, you mean," Lucy grinned.

Alex smiled as well.

"Talking about new coworkers, any of them worth mentioning?" the smaller woman asked, her grin turning into a smirk.

"And here I was thinking you were concerned about my career," Alex shook her head, laughing. "And not really, no. One of the two detectives on the case is a total ass, though."

"Ah, I see you have met Detective Maxwell Lord," Lucy nodded. "I met him a few times, prosecuting a case. He's a total sleazeball."

Something seemed to click in her mind.

"That means you have met his partner as well, Detective Maggie Sawyer," she said, the shit-eating grin returning.

"I have," Alex said, not indulging further because she already knew which way this conversation was heading.

"Not bad, he," Lucy ignored Alex' lack of enthusiasm.

"I was busy studying a corpse, I wouldn't be able to tell," the doctor said.

That was a lie.

She had noticed the female detective the second she had seen both of them approaching. Her dark curls, the dimples in her cheeks when she smiled, they had been etched on Alex' retina and she had no idea how to get them off. The detective was a very beautiful woman, and there was no way the doctor could not notice is.

"I call bullshit," Lucy said, knowing her friend too well.

"Fine, she's not hard on the eyes," Alex admitted. "Happy?"

"Very," the prosecutor smiled. "You should take her to one of those fundraisers your parents keep throwing."

"I thought I was taking you as my plus one every time?" Alex asked, surprised.

Lucy shook her head.

"I have plans with James next Saturday, and to be honest with you Alex, I can't keep being your date. It's not fair to James and it's not fair to you either. I wouldn't want you to stop looking for dates simply because it's easier to take me."

Alex sighed deeply. She knew how her mother was. Even when she was taking Lucy, her mother knew damn well they weren't dating. But she tolerated it, finding it enough if the guests believed it. Turning up alone was never an option, and not turning up even less.

Half an hour of pleading with her friend got her nowhere, so she decided to return to the morgue and focus on her work instead.

**SANVERS***

Maggie was going through her notes when her desk phone rang.

"Sawyer," she picked it up.

"It's Danvers. I think I've found something."

"Great. Max is due back any minute now, and then we'll come down."

"I'd rather you'd come right away, and not bring him."

Maggie laughed.

"He made that much of a bad impression, did he?"

"Just come alone, Sawyer. It's you I want to see anyway."

And with that the line got disconnected.

The detective didn't really know what she should think about that last part. Was the doctor flirting with her? Or was she really tired of Max already.

She grabbed her notebook and hurried downstairs, to the morgue.

When she arrived, the doctor was bend over the mutilated victim. The body was cut open as usual at an autopsy, something Maggie still wasn't used to. She felt her stomach turn.

The doctor must have noticed it, because she quickly moved next to the detective and put her hand on the shaken woman's shoulder.

"It's okay," she said.

Maggie nodded, happy with the understanding look she got from the doctor. From where her hand was touching her arm, she could feel the calm wash over her body.

"You said you found something?" she tried to change the subject.

"As a matter of fact, I did," the doctor said, stepping aside to look through her notes. Maggie immediately missed the contact.

"Despite the sheer amount of violence on the body, I don't think it killed her. All of these injuries were caused post mortem."

"Then what killed her?"

"I'm not sure yet. Blood analysis will be ready in a few minutes, if you have the time to wait for them."

"You told me to hurry and now you ask me to wait?" Maggie asked, surprised.

"Do you mind spending time in here with me?" the doctor asked, a ghost of a smile flitting across her face.

A dumbfounded Maggie was the result, suddenly at a loss for words.

"I certainly don't," Doctor Danvers said, while focussing on her work again.

***SANVERS***

She would never admit it out loud, but being in the same room with the detective made her nervous.

Alex Danvers was never nervous. She knew exactly what she wanted, when she wanted it, and she was used to get it. The detective shouldn't be much different, but somehow she was.

That she was going to ask the dark haired woman to join her for the fundraiser, had been decided after her lunch with Lucy. She had just returned to the morgue, when her phone had rang.

She immediately recognised the number.

"Hi mom," she said, greeting Eliza Danvers.

"Alex, sweetie," her mother said, "I'm calling to confirm you attendance this Saturday."

"I'll be there, mom," Alex said.

"Are you bringing Lucy?"

"No, she can't."

"That's a shame," Eliza said. "She's such a sweet girl."

You should see her in court, Alex thought.

"In fact, I don't think she'll be joining us again anytime soon."

"Are you bringing someone else?"

Alex knew the question would come.

"Sure, mom. You'll really like her. She's awesome."

That was when she had decided to ask the detective to be her plus one. She dealt with that detective what's-his-name on a daily basis, she would be able to handle the stuck-up rich people that would attend the fundraiser.

When she had called the detective, she knew she should've waited on the blood results. But she had noticed that annoying detective passing her morgue, towards the cellblock. Detective Sawyer would be on her own upstairs, so it would be a perfect opportunity to ask the other woman along for the fundraiser.

She worked in silence, the detective observing her. Alex found that it didn't bother her as much as it usually did, when people were watching her work.

"Like what you see, detective?"

She loved how she had rendered the other woman speechless only minutes ago, and wanted to do it again. The detective radiated so much confidence, yet in Alex' company, she seemed to lose all ability to speak.

This time was no different.

Alex turned around, putting on her game face, determined to get an answer out of the dark haired woman.

"Cat got your tongue, detective?"

The smirk on her face must be evidence.

She slowly closed the gap between them, the detective still standing next to her desk.

"I...I…"

The other woman was at a loss for words.

A machine made a ping sound, and Alex closed the gap completely, pushing her body flush against the detective's.

"Ah," she said, reading what was on her computer screen that stood behind the detective.

Detective Sawyer seemed to have found her ability to breath again, together with the knowledge how to form sentences.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Your victim was drugged. Overdosed on a combination of ketamine and benzodiazepines."

Alex took a small step back, still feeling the warmth radiating from the other woman's body.

"By the way, you're picking me up at seven this Saturday. Dress up."

With that, she left her morgue, leaving a yet again dumbfounded detective in her wake.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the wonderful reactions this fic has already gotten! Here's chapter 3, hope you like it just as much!

“What the hell just happened?” Maggie found herself wondering out loud.

She started her trek back upstairs, shaking her head in disbelief. 

The doctor had just asked her out. It hadn't been much of a question, she had stated as if it was an obvious fact.  
But now Maggie was quite lost, she had no clue what Dr Danvers’ intentions had been, or how she was picturing the night.

Did she want Maggie to plan the date? Or did she already have something in mind? And what did she mean by dress up? Maggie didn’t even know where the doctor lived!

No, the detective chastised herself, you do not get to panic right now! It’s not because some pretty lady power played you and won, you don’t get a chance in the next round. Get your act together and focus on what needs to be done! She was a detective, for crying out loud, and a damn good one at that. She would do what she did best, she’d detect and figure it all out.

Maggie had been so lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed someone following her. When that someone suddenly jumped on her, they surprised her, but not enough for the dark haired woman to have them pinned to the wall in mere seconds.

“I give up,” Max said, trying to create some space between his throat and his partner’s arm, failing miserably.  
“Jezus Max, you scared me,” Maggie said, letting go of her partner.  
“I’m sorry, you were so lost in your thoughts, I saw an opportunity to finally gain the upperhand. I have underestimated you though.”  
Maggie smiled.  
“So what were you thinking about?” he asked, falling into step next to the dark haired woman.  
“The case,” Maggie lied. “Our victim OD’d. Ketamine and benzodiazepines. Someone must’ve wanted to hide it, all the other injuries are from after she died.”  
“Who would do that?” Max asked, lost in thought.  
“Let’s go check missing person reports, maybe we can find our Jane Doe,” Maggie said, when they reached their desks.

It was already late when Maggie decided she needed some sustenance. Normally she tried to eat healthy, but a new case always meant late nights and take out.  
She looked in her upper desk drawer and found the flyer of that great pizza place that delivered to the precinct on an almost daily basis. After quickly dialing the number and putting in her order, she looked at her notes again.

So far she hadn’t found any women that matched the victim’s height and weight. Or this girl had been missing for a long time already, or nobody has reported her missing. The last one was a rather disturbing thought for Maggie. Imagine nobody noticing when you got missing, drugged and beaten to pulp, to be left in the city’s garbage dump. 

The pizza arrived only ten minutes later, the delivery boy carrying two boxes.  
“I only ordered one,” Maggie said, handing over the money and a generous tip.  
“Oh, but this one isn’t for you, it’s for someone called Alex Danvers. Do you know her? I have never seen her name on the order list before,” the delivery boy said.  
Delivering so many pizzas to the precinct, most delivery boys knew all of the detectives by name.  
“She’s the new ME,” Maggie explained. “I’ll bring it to her, don’t worry. Here, for the second pizza.”  
She offered the money and accepted both pizza boxes.  
The delivery boy smiled and left.

Great Sawyer, she thought, are you going to wine and dine her now as well?  
The dark haired woman shook her head, gathered both pizza boxes and left for the morgue.

“Dr Danvers?” she asked, when she entered the morgue cautiously.   
The doctor was looking through the microscope, and Maggie found she didn’t want to risk surprising the brunette.

***SANVERS***

Alex was looking at some samples through her microscope when she noticed the detective entering. She noticed the other woman didn’t want to surprise her, yet she should know, Alex wasn’t someone you could sneak up on easily.  
It warmed the doctor’s heart though, that the detective was trying to be so considerate.

“Dr Danvers?” she heard, only now opting to look up.  
“Yes?” she asked, looking straight into those dear-like brown orbs.  
“I’ve got your pizza. The delivery boy brought them both at once, so I thought I’d save him the trouble and accept both.”  
“That’s very considerate of you.”

Alex wondered if the detective was about to ask her about Saturday. She must be wondering, getting so little information. The doctor loved challenging the people around her, especially those she aspired to associate with. It drove Kara crazy, yet Alex insisted it showed their character to her even before they had a decent conversation.

“Would you like to eat them together?” she heard the detective ask. She also didn’t miss the other woman wincing at her own words.  
“Sure,” she agreed, “it would be silly to send you back up after such a kind gesture.”  
“It was for the pizza boy,” the detective said, suddenly finding some of her confidence again now Alex had agreed to her proposal. “Don’t let it get to your head.”  
That smile and those dimples, Alex found herself wanting to see more of them.  
“And here I was, thinking I was special,” she winked, causing the detective to laugh.  
“Uhm…” the detective suddenly became quiet again, eyeing the body on the slab. “Would you mind…”  
“Of course we won’t be eating in here,” Alex quickly saved the other woman. “That wouldn’t be very professional, contaminating evidence with pizza.”  
The smile returned and the doctor found herself being able to breath more freely again.

***SANVERS***

Maggie followed the doctor into another room, where a small desk stood. On top of the desk stood a framed picture, but the detective could only see the back side of it. There were a few cabinets lined against the walls, which were white and bare, except for spread out black dots.  
“Are those stars?” it suddenly clicked.  
“They are,” the doctor smiled. “You’re the first to figure it out.”  
“A fan of astronomy then, I take?” Maggie asked, while sitting down at the desk.  
“I used to stargaze for hours with my dad,” the brunette smiled a sad smile.  
“I’m sorry,” the detective said. “You must miss him a lot.”  
The doctor surprised her by laughing out loud.   
“You are a very good detective, Sawyer,” she said, still laughing.  
“I try to be,” she smiled.

She wanted to ask about Saturday. She wanted to know more, ask about everything. But she felt like the doctor didn’t want her to ask, rather than figure it out.  
The doctor walked over to the fridge hidden by the cabinets and pulls out two beers.  
“Don’t give me the ‘I don’t drink on the job’ bullshit,” she says, before Maggie can refuse. “It’s one beer, and we’ve been at it since 3 AM. I think we deserve a break.”  
Maggie nods and accepts the beer.

The first half of their pizzas they eat in silence. Then the doctor tries to hide a yawn, but fails miserably.  
“Tired, Danvers?” Maggie asked.  
“A little, hadn’t gotten much sleep before they called me in.”  
“Want a ride home?”  
This the brunette seemed to be needing to think about. After a few minutes, when Maggie was starting to be sure she had done something terribly wrong, the doctor shrugged.  
“Fine,” she agreed.  
“It’s just my bike though, I hope you don’t mind.”  
“I’ve got one myself at home,” Alex Danvers answered, and Maggie suddenly found herself wondering how this woman could become anymore perfect.

Not that she would say it out loud, she had seen Max crash and burn before her eyes doing just that.

“Let’s finish this pizza and we’ll be off,” Maggie smiled instead.

At least now she’d know where to pick the doctor up on Saturday.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait! As I said in the beginning of this fic, I can't promise regular updates, although I had hoped to be able to post a little more often.
> 
> I think it's funny how a lot of people compare this to a Rizzles fic. I never intended to do that, I kind of based my characters on my own story, which also features an ME and a detective. Maybe some of you will like it if I ever finish it :-)
> 
> It's a short one, but I really wanted to get something out today. Hope you enjoy!

Maggie paced up and down her appartement, feeling agitated. She couldn’t forget the feeling of the doctor’s front pressed closely against her back on the bike. It had felt so good, so right, that now she was getting stressed about the date.

Was it a date? Maggie still wasn’t sure.

She only knew for sure that beautiful woman never got her nervous, especially not this nervous, yet that was exactly what Alex Danvers had done to her.

Maggie shook her head, trying to regain focus. She had work to do, and acting like an hormonal teenager wasn’t going to get the job done.

First step, mode of transportation.   
If Danvers said to dress up, she’d probably expect a dress. And riding a motorcycle in a dress wasn’t very comfortable nor elegant.  
She immediately knew who to call.

“Lord?”  
“Max, it’s me, Maggie. I need a favor,” she said.  
“What can I help you with?” her partner asked.  
“I need to borrow one of your cars this Saturday. For my date.”

Maxwell Lord may have been an ordinary Homicide Detective, but he had inherited tons of money when his parents had died on the job. They had been working on some top secret government project, so it was more money to never tell anyone what they were doing, but Max didn’t care. He got the money, and he loved to spend it.

“I guess you can borrow the Mustang,” he said. “I was thinking about taking the Benz to the fundraiser anyway.”  
“Fundraiser? What fundraiser? I thought you never went to those kind of things?” Maggie asked, surprised.  
“The one Eliza Danvers is throwing every month. Word on the street is that her oldest daughter is single again, and I’d love to have a second chance with that one.”  
The pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place in Maggie’s mind.  
“Eliza Danvers, as in doctor Alex Danvers, Chief ME?” she asked.  
“The same. But enough about me, tell me about your date?” she heard her partner ask.  
“Not now, I have to be somewhere You know, things to see, people to do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”  
Before Maxwell Lord could protest, Maggie hung up.

That was a very interesting phone call, she thought. Not only did she arrange their car for the night - she hoped the doctor was into fast cars - she also now knew where they were going.

And Max was going to be there.  
This was going to be interesting, Maggie thought as a smile appeared on her face. 

***SANVERS***

Alex was pacing up and down her apartment, not able to sit down and relax. Her entire body kept remembering the feeling of sitting on the back of Detective Sawyer’s bike, and the adrenaline was still flowing freely through her veins.

This is insane, she thought, I’ve been home for over two hours already.

She decided to call Kara, to check in on her baby sister. 

“Alex!” the ever chipper Danvers sister answered her phone, even when Alex was calling her at 11 PM. “Is everything alright?”  
“Just wanted to check in with my little sister,” Alex smiled. Talking to Kara did that to her, it always made her smile. “How are you?”  
“Good! Feeling stoked for Saturday, Winn promised to help me find the kitchen again, so we can raid all of the food.”  
Alex laughed.  
“I swear that’s the sole reason of her changing venues every time. You could find food with your eyes closed.”  
She held her breath, realizing what she had just said.  
“It’s a gift,” she heard her sister say, and she could hear the smile in her voice.

Alex admired her sister for that. Even though her illness was still a sore subject, she would always find a way to see the positive sight of things. 

“So mom told me you were bringing someone new, do I know her? Is it for real this time?”  
Of course she told Kara, Alex thought.  
“Lucy thought it would be unrespectful to James if we kept up the charade, so I had to find someone else to play the part. Don’t tell mom though, she’ll throw a fit if she finds out I’m faking it, again.”  
“You mean, when she finds out,” her sister corrected her.  
“I’d like to postpone that moment for as long as possible,” Alex said, silently agreeing with her sister’s correction. “So will you keep the secret?”  
“Sure,” Kara said.  
“Promise?”  
“I promise. So I’ll see you on Saturday? And then Sunday an afternoon of movies and potstickers?”  
“I wouldn’t miss our Sister Sunday for the world,” Alex smiled.

They said their goodbyes and Alex ended the call. 

***SANVERS***

The next day Maggie walked into the station, feeling like crap. Her dreams had been vivid, people forgetting she existed and finding herself mutilated on a garbage dump.   
This was what new cases did to her, and she found she had a hard time blocking the feelings of the dreams out, even though she was now wide awake.

A cup of coffee was already waiting on her desk, and she eyed Max suspiciously.

There was never coffee waiting for her on her desk when she came in.

“What do you need?” she asked, feeling rather disturbed by the way her partner was looking at her.  
“A favor,” he grinned.  
Maggie already dreaded this, even though he hadn’t told her which favor yet.  
“I noticed the doctor doesn’t detest you, and I wondered if you could put in a good word for me. You know, so I can start with a clean slate when I try to pull her this Saturday.”

It took everything Maggie had not to start laughing at his request. The poor man didn’t know the doctor was taking a date, even less that said date was his partner.  
She decided to leave him in the dark a little longer.

“Sure, partner,” she said, sitting down at her desk. “I’ll give it a try.”  
“Thanks,” he smiled.

Maggie took a sip from her coffee. Even after all these years of working together, Max still couldn’t remember she liked it black. After tasting it was something with a lot of milk and added flavors, she winced and threw the cup into the garbage can. Her partner didn’t even notice or care to comment on it.

***SANVERS***

Alex entered her lab, determined today would be the day she would find something that could identify the victim.  
A cup of coffee waited on her desk, accompanied by a note.

I sincerely apologize for my behaviour yesterday. Let’s start over? M.L.

For a second, when Alex saw the M, she thought it was Detective Sawyer having second thoughts, but then she noticed the L as well. Maxwell Lord.  
She didn’t like the guy, not one bit, there was something sleazy about him and he obviously thought he was God’s gift to women.

Her mother had known his parents, before they died. Alex knew her mother kept inviting Max to the fundraisers, but he had never shown. She hoped her starting to work here now, wouldn’t change that. It could become very awkward when he would recognise her date. And she didn’t know Maggie would be okay with that.

She’d have to take the risk.  
Smelling the coffee, she noticed it was way too expensive for her taste and threw it out without even tasting it.


	5. Chapter 5

Alex dreaded what she was about to do.  
She always prided herself that she didn’t need anyone’s help to solve a case, that she could so all of the research and testing herself. But the NCPD morgue and lab weren’t equipped for her last chance to identify the body in front of her.

She sighed while dialing the number she knew by heart.  
“Yes?”  
“Jones, it’s me, Alex,” she said.  
“I know, Alex, there’s something like a caller ID,” she heard the man say, yet there was no trace of humor in his voice.  
“I need a favor. I have this body here, completely mutilated, as if the killer knew exactly what an ME could try to identify it. All I know she is female, her height and her approximate weight. Missing person case files have gotten us nothing so far, so I see only one more option to solve the mystery of her identity…”  
“You want to use the bugs,” J’onn Jones filled in the blanks.  
“And I don’t have any equipment to do that here at the NCPD.”  
“Is this just about the equipment, or is this something you want us to follow up on?”  
“I’d like to officially consult you and your team on this case. I’ll have the paperwork ready when you come collect the bugs.”  
“How do you know I won’t send in Vasquez to collect the samples?”   
“Because I know you, J’onn. You wouldn’t risk getting them contaminated,” Alex simply stated.  
“Okay, I’ll be there in an hour.”  
With that, the line got disconnected.

Another sigh from Alex.

She had worked for the man for over five years, together with her father, and she had loved it. Then her father had died and everything had changed.  
Before the accident, J’onn Jones had been a family friend, her father’s best friend, more than a boss or co-worker at the DEO. A kind man, who would do anything to protect those he loved.  
Jeremiah Danvers had been on route with J’onn Jones’ wife and two daughters, after picking them up from the airport. The Jones’ had been on a family vacation with J’onn’s in-laws, but had returned earlier to surprise him. Alex’ dad had been in on the surprise and would be their driver. A drunken driver hit their car, fleeing the scene immediately. No one had survived the impact, and J’onn Jones had never been the same again.

It was why Alex had changed jobs, and had applied for the Chief ME position in the first place. She hadn’t been back at the DEO ever since, avoiding J’onn at all costs. Only at her mother’s fundraisers she had to tolerate his presence, and she did that with grace, but the cold business man wasn’t someone she’d ever known.

Shaking her head to push away the memories, Alex grabbed her phone and started upstairs, to find the necessary paperwork.

***SANVERS***

Maggie was going through even more missing person’s reports when she noticed something change in Max’ demeanor.  
“What is it?” she asked, before turning around and seeing Dr Danvers approach their desks.

“Sawyer, I need the paperwork to hire a consultant on the case,” the doctor started, completely ignoring Maggie’s partner.  
“Does Lane know you’re hiring a consultant?” the dark haired woman asked.  
“Not yet, but I’m about to tell him. Can you find me those forms in the meantime?”  
“Sure, no problem. It’ll be ready for you when you get back. I think Lane’s in, so good luck.”

The doctor nodded her head and smiled, walking over to the Sergeant Detective’s office.

Maggie turned around, surprised that Max had kept his mouth shut through the entire conversation.  
“What?” she asked, when noticing her partner staring at her lost in thought.  
“I was just wondering…” he started. “Never mind.”  
“Spill it, Lord, or I’ll make you,” Maggie said, not feeling up for one of his games.  
“Are you trying to pull the doctor as well?”  
So he was checking if there was any competition.  
Maggie laughed, shaking her head.  
“Is this you trying to find a reason why she completely ignored you just now?”  
Make it about him, she thought, he won’t notice you’re deflecting the question.  
“She did not, that smile was totally meant for me,” her partner took the bait. “She’s just shy, because she’s already so infatuated with me.”  
Maggie decided not to respond, but couldn’t hide her laughter.

***SANVERS***

“Sergeant Detective Lane, a word?” Alex asked when entering the office.  
It was a simple office, very much military style, with no excess decoration.  
“Doctor Danvers, how can I help you?” he motioned her to come inside.  
Even though he knew Alex was friends with his youngest daughter Lucy, he still called her Dr Danvers at work, refusing to mix personal with professional. Alex respected him for that.  
“I need to hire a consult on this case,” she skipped the pleasantries. “The equipment I need isn’t in the lab or the morgue.”  
“You are talking about the DEO,” the Sergeant Detective said.  
Alex nodded.  
“I know they have the equipment, and I know how they work. They’re the right people for this job, and to be quite frank, I believe it’s our only shot at identifying our victim.”  
“I trust you’ve already exhausted every other possibility?”  
Alex nodded again.  
“Okay, I’ll approve the hire,” the older Lane said, and with that, Alex was dismissed.

***SANVERS***

“Detective Sawyer, a word?” the redhead asked when she passed the detective’s desk.  
Maggie quickly followed the doctor into one of the observation rooms adjacent to the interview rooms. She saw her checking every corner and piece of furniture, before taking out a little device and pushing a button.  
“Okay, now we can talk in private,” she said.  
The confusion must be obvious in Maggie’s eyes, because the doctor continued to explain.  
“I think someone inside the NCPD killed our Jane Doe,” she said. “It is as if he or she knew exactly what we would try to identify our victim: the garbage dump, the physical mutilations, there’s no missing person’s report, ... “  
“I haven’t found one yet, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one,” Maggie countered.  
“I’d dare to gamble on the fact that you won’t find any, no matter how long you look,” the doctor said. “It’s an inside job, and I don’t think it’s only this one murder. I think it’s bigger. But I don’t trust anyone, except for you. So I hope that trust isn’t in vain and you can keep this to yourself.”

Maggie nodded, processing what Danvers had just said. The wheels in her head were already turning.  
“You can trust me,” she assured the other woman. “To be honest, I’ve found this case a little bit fishy from the start.”  
The doctor nodded.  
“It’s why I’m hiring a consult. There’s no way the killer has even heard of the DEO, let alone knows what they can do.”  
“The DEO?” Maggie asked. She had indeed never heard of such an organisation.  
“My former employers. It’s a giant private lab, they’ve got technology that makes this NCPD lab look like an easy bake oven. If anyone can identify our Jane Doe, it’s them.”  
“So why leave?” Maggie heard herself ask, immediately regretting the question. “Never mind, forget I asked,” she quickly added.  
“They don’t have cute detectives down at the DEO,” the doctor winked, and left the detective alone in the room, yet again completely dumbfounded.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one! Thank you for the comments, they motivate me to keep writing.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was the night of the fundraiser, and Alex was getting ready. She had picked out a blue dress, which was simple yet flattering in all the right places. She knew her mother would approve of it, so that was one less thing to worry about tonight.

She did worry. She worried Sawyer hadn't been able to figure it out, or wouldn't want to go with the plan once she would hear what Alex had intended by inviting her. She worried what would happen when Max showed up, or how her mother would react to her date.

Alex Danvers didn't date. This was not a date. Yet she had never been more nervous for an actual date. 

With Lucy, it had been simple, and clear. The younger Lane was straight, and madly in love with Jimmy Olsen.   
Now things could get a little more complicated. Alex had noticed the detective respond to her flirting and she had found she herself liked the way she looked at her.

Not like all of those idiots looked at her, like she was all piece of meat or a way to get to her mother. She felt like an actual person around the detective, valued for more than just her looks or whose daughter she was.

Aside from all of the worries, Alex found that she was looking forward to this night, for the first time in a very long time.

***SANVERS***

Maggie had picked up the car from Max on Friday, after work, so she would have all day to get ready for her date.

She still wasn't sure it was a date, but found that she didn't care.   
She was about to spend time with one of the most intriguing people she had ever met, who happened to also be a smoking hot woman.

All of her dresses were spread out on top of her bed. She had decided that much, that it would be a dress. Maggie knew she could pull off a suit, but Danvers had said to dress up, so that was exactly what she planned on doing.

An elegant black dress caught her eye. It was open on the sides, simply laces keeping the fabric together. It would still look classy enough for the fundraiser, yet Maggie silently hoped it would drive the doctor crazy as well.

Yes, that one would have to do.

She had googled the fundraiser, to figure out the address. The article had said invite only and only the richest and most famous were invited. They would be raising funds for research on RP, but Maggie had no idea what that was. Probably some disease.   
She was determined to ask the doctor what it was tonight.

Checking her watch for the umpieth time that evening, she noticed it was time to get ready. Dr Danvers had said seven, and Maggie planned on being the most punctual she had ever been.

***SANVERS***

Alex didn’t like it when people were late. In fact, she hated it.

So when her doorbell rang at exactly 7 PM, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.  
She walked over to the intercom and pressed the mic button.

“Yes?”  
“Danvers? It’s Sawyer.”  
“I’ll be right down.”

Alex gathered all of her belongings and hurried downstairs.

When she exited the building, she was greeted by a truly breathtaking sight: Detective Maggie Sawyer next to a bright red Ford Mustang.

“You clean up nice,” the detective said, dimples on full display.  
“I do... “ Alex said, struggling to find her words. “You do too, with the shoes, and the hair, and, all the…” she tried to save herself with a small hand gesture indicating she was talking about the dress.  
“Not all business,” Sawyer smiled.  
She opened the passenger side door for Alex to get in.

“I didn’t know NCPD paid there homicide detectives that good,” Alex started, when the detective joined her in the car. “This car must cost over 50 grand.”   
“They don’t, and it does. It’s Lord’s, I borrowed it for the night. I figured dress up meant dresses and they don’t match well with my Triumph.”  
Alex smiled, happy the detective had been so considering.  
“So, ready doc?” the detective smiled.  
“Alex,” she said. “If we’re doing this, you should call me Alex.”  
“Then it’s only fair you call me Maggie,” the other woman said. “Hold on tight, this one has a little spunk.”

***SANVERS***

Focussing on the road had never been so difficult. When Dr Danvers - no Alex, Maggie corrected herself - had exited her building, it had been hard to remember how to breath. Luckily she had a few moments before the redhead had approached her, and Maggie was glad to notice her outfit had the desired effect on the doctor.

She knew the road to the fundraiser by heart, but opted to park a few blocks earlier.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked her.  
“Well, I know where we’re going, and I figured I’m going as your date, but I’ll need you to tell me what you expect from me, because I’m a big fan of boundaries and consent,” Maggie started.  
Shit, she thought, that came out way wrong.  
“I mean, I know it was a test, so I figured out it was the fundraiser, but what I don’t know is what you are expecting of this evening,” she corrected herself, “what you are expecting of me.”  
Alex sighed, and Maggie found that she was holding her breath waiting for the explanation that was about to come.

“You’re right that I wanted to test you,” she started. “Ever since we found out my sister was sick, my parents have been throwing these fundraisers, to fund their own search for a cure. Both my parents are brilliant doctors, working for the DEO, and I was trained to join them, so I did. When my dad died, curing Kara was all my mother wanted. These fundraisers became so important to her, that they became an obsession. I don’t know, maybe it’s her way of honouring my dad.”  
Maggie nodded, keeping silent because there was more to come.  
“She puts a lot of pressure on me, always have, to protect Kara and to help her find the cure. Ever since my dad… The pressure has been impossible. When I came out, she freaked, but quickly figured it would get her more LGBT funding. My sexuality is a way to get money for Kara, to her.”  
The detective noticed that Alex had to regroup a little, and put her hand on the other woman’s hand in comfort.  
“She expects me to be the best, and when I left the DEO, I failed her even more than I have ever have. Now my only function to her is to get those LGBT fundings, by bringing a date, or if I don’t, pull some rich guy’s son or daughter to get her extra funding. I had an agreement with my friend who would accompany me and I’d be left alone, but now she thinks it’s unfair to her boyfriend, so she opted out. I’m sorry, I don’t want you to think I’m using you or anything, but I really didn’t want to be alone at that fundraiser tonight, and you are so beautiful and intriguing and the first person to actually see me, not who my mother is…”  
Maggie smiled at this.  
“Ah, are you getting soft on me, Danvers?” she tried to cut the tension.  
“No,” Alex laughed.  
“Okay, so do we need some ground rules?” Maggie asked.  
“My mother expects you to be my date, and the rest of those jerks, I want them to believe the same. I guess you’ve done undercover work before…”  
Maggie nodded.  
“You know, you might be right about those jerks,” she said, while starting the car again.  
“Yeah?” Alex asked.  
“Lord heard you were single again and is going to try to win you over tonight,” Maggie laughed.  
“You okay with that?” the doctor asked.  
The detective nodded and grinned.  
“This is going to be so funny,” she laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait! A shorter one, but I really wanted to get something out today.  
> Thank you for all of the comments, they make me want to keep writing!

After Alex had poured her heart out, Maggie decided that she would be the perfect gentlewoman tonight. The redhead really hated these fundraisers, that much was obvious, so she wanted her to at least enjoy her company.

When the valet accepted the keys to the Mustang, Maggie rushed to the other side to open the door for the doctor and help her out of the car. She took hold of her hand, and immediately felt as if she never wanted to let go ever again. Trying to fake her confidence - which was suddenly lost with the physical contact - she almost pulled the other woman inside.

***SANVERS***

All Alex could think of, were their hands touching. The detective was holding her hand, their fingers intertwined, and all she could think was how perfect it felt.

No, this is wrong, Alex tried to chastise herself, it’s fake. She’s faking it. You’re faking it. Get your act together.

Even though she tried so hard, she couldn’t get her gaze off of their hands until she noticed they had entered the main hall. 

Familiar faces everywhere, but her eyes drifted to the bar.

“I’ll get us something to drink,” the detective said, following her gaze.

Alex had the decency to blush, before Maggie left her alone. She looked around, trying to get a feel of how the evening would be.

Her mother was talking to Lillian Luthor, who was wearing her fake smile again. The woman should know better, Alex thought, to flaunt herself like that while her son is in jail for terrorism. Eliza Danvers didn’t seem to care. To her the Luthors were just another deep pocket which could keep her project going.

Alex tried to find Kara, the only light on these occasions, but failed to find her. The younger Danvers was probably already raiding the kitchen, with Winn in her tow. The thought made the doctor smile.

“Doctor Danvers, what a pleasure seeing you here,” she heard an all too familiar voice behind her.  
“Detective Lord,” she replied coldly while turning around to face the man.  
“Please, call me Max,” he smiled. “We’re not at work here, are we?”  
The guy didn’t take subtle hints very well, or he chose to ignore the cold stare he was getting from the doctor.  
“I wanted to apologize for my behavior again, from the other day. I was out of line, I’m sorry. It’s just, you are so beautiful, my brain stopped working for a second.”

Alex wanted to punch him, punch that too-sweet smile of his face, but she knew her mother would scold her for it. Just like the Luthors, Max had deep pockets that needed emptying. She would just have to put up with him.

***SANVERS***

Maggie noticed what was happening when she turned around, drinks in hand. A wide grin accompanied by her signature dimples formed on her face. As much as she had been looking forward to spending time with the doctor this evening, this was what she was going to love most.

Max was a smug bastard, always flaunting his cash and always slacking off, leaving his partner to do all of the work. He had an ego the size of the moon, and it needed to be taken down a few notches, a task Maggie gladly took upon herself.

She had outsmarted him at every given opportunity, and had stolen many dates from right under his nose, just so she could prove a point. But doctor Danvers - Alex, she corrected herself - was his most cherished prize, the woman he had been dreaming to conquer for years. 

Maggie took in a deep breath, closed her eyes for a second, and then headed over to her date.

“Here you go, babe” she smiled, handing Alex her drink and completely ignoring her partner’s presence.  
“Whiskey neat, how did you…” Alex started, but Maggie interrupted her.   
“I’m a detective. I detect,” she winked and put her free hand on the doctor’s lower back, not caring how possessive it looked. The other didn’t seemed to mind either.

“Sawyer?” she heard Max ask, and chose that moment to acknowledge him.  
“Lord, fancy seeing you here,” she said, not able to keep the shit-eating grin of her face. “It’s so kind of you to keep my date company while I was getting our drinks. Wouldn’t want her to get lonely.”  
“Date?” her partner stuttered, not able to form complete sentences yet.  
“Yes, date,” Alex said, putting her arm around Maggie as well.  
For a second the detective forgot all about Maxwell Lord.  
“Sawyer, can I get a word?” he asked.  
“I’ll be right back,” Maggie smiled and kissed Alex on the cheek.  
“Don’t go too far,” the other woman decided to respond, causing another giant grin on the detective’s face.

“What is it Max?” Maggie asked, when they had moved away from the doctor.  
“You are Alex Danvers’ date?” he asked, unable to keep his voice down. “Why didn’t you tell me that? I thought you weren’t interested?”  
“Never said that and it was so totally worth it to see your face,” she grinned.  
“Not funny Sawyer.”  
“It totally was. Now leave us the fuck alone, will you?”  
“Or what?” Lord wasn’t backing down easily.  
“Or I will stop protecting you from Alex. I heard she knows at least six different very painful ways to stop you just by using her index finger. So back off, Lord. Cut your losses, enjoy the free champagne and find yourself another plaything. Alex Danvers is off the table.”  
“Didn’t take you for the jealous type,” her partner spat at her.  
“She’s right about Alex, you know. And you have no idea what she can do with the other nine fingers.”

Trying to push away every dirty thought that popped in her mind when hearing that statement, Maggie looked up to see a blonde girl approaching them.  
No way she could have heard us from all the way over there, Maggie thought in awe.

“Kara Danvers, of course you would come and put your nose into grown up stuff,” Maxwell Lord started, but quickly felt his feet leave the floor.  
“Another word to my sister and I will personally make sure you will never speak again,” Alex Danvers spat at the detective.  
“Alex!”  
Another blonde woman, an older one, came running to where they were standing.  
“Oh shit,” she heard Alex mumble, putting the exact feeling that was growing in her stomach into words.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one, but I really wanted to publish two this week. Enjoy!

Right before the woman could get within earshot, Alex pulled Lord’s face closer and whispered: “One word of this to my mother, and you will never walk again. Got it?”  
The detective nodded, before being lowered back onto the ground.

Taking a big gulp of her drink, Alex turned around to face the person she had dreaded the most to see this evening.

“Hello, mother.”

***SANVERS***

All Maggie could do was to keep her mouth closed.

Alex Danvers had just lifted up a 180 lbs man with just one hand, not letting go of her drink in the meanwhile. If she had ever seen something that hot…

And now said woman had to face her apparently very angry mother, not looking fased just one bit.

“Alex, what are you doing? Are you alright, mister Lord?” the older woman hurried to check on her guest.  
“I’m fine, Mrs Danvers,” Max said, “I’m afraid I merely lost a bet right now. Kara was telling me how strong her sister was and I simply wouldn’t believe her. Your daughter was kind enough to demonstrate.”  
Maggie was glad he made up this story, since it sounded exactly like her partner to place such a stupid bet.  
“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m afraid I misjudged the situation then.”  
The look she threw her oldest daughter told Maggie she didn’t believe one bit of what Max had just said, but had decided to leave it if he wasn’t disturbed.  
“If you’ll excuse me, I think I saw someone I knew a long time ago,” Maxwell Lord said, and hurried away, leaving with the three Danvers woman.

***SANVERS***

Alex knew her mother wasn’t buying Lord’s story, and that she was pissed off at her daughter’s behavior. She knew she crossed a line by picking the man up like that, but he had been talking to Kara in a way that wasn’t acceptable.  
And didn’t her mother expect her to defend Kara?

“So Alex,” her mother said, her cold stare now shifting towards Maggie, “why don’t you introduce me to your friend over here?”  
“This is Detective Maggie Sawyer, my date,” Alex said, stressing the last word.  
“Nice to meet you, Mrs Danvers,” Maggie said, offering Eliza Danvers her hand. “Thank you for having me tonight. Everything looks amazing.”

Alex smiled, knowing the detective had made a good call by complimenting her mother.   
“Please, call me Eliza,” the older blonde smiled. “I hope my daughter has explained the goal of this evening, and I assume you support it?”  
“Of course, Eliza, it’s a wonderful thing you are doing here. If you excuse me, Alex promised me a tour of the venue,” Maggie smiled, offering them a quick out.  
Eliza Danvers didn’t hesitate to take that out.  
“Well, have a good evening, girls. If there’s anything, don’t hesitate to come find me.”

***SANVERS***  
Maggie watched the older woman leave and turned around to face her date.  
“Alex, are you okay?” she asked.  
“What do you think?” was the cold answer she got.  
“Let’s go get ourselves another drink and find a quiet place where we can talk,” Maggie said, and she grabbed the other woman’s hand to pull her along.

They found their quiet place in the cloakroom, where they hid behind the racks.  
“Spill,” Maggie said, when they were sitting down.

What Maggie had expected, was an angry rant about Max.  
What Maggie had expected, was an angry outburst about Eliza Danvers.  
She might even had expected complete silence.

What she hadn’t expected, was Alex Danvers crying in her arms.

She let her, unsure of what to do next.

After a good ten minutes, the sobbing finally calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” the doctor said, wiping away the tears from her eyes. “I shouldn’t have done that.”  
“Don’t worry about it,” Maggie said. “Wanna talk about it?”  
The redhead took a few minutes to consider the offer, then nodded.  
“I sometimes don’t know what she expects from me,” she started. “She wants me to be there for Kara, to defend her, but when I do, she looks at me like that.”  
“Kara didn’t seem to mind you defending her.”  
Alex started laughing.  
“Kara doesn’t really need defending,” she said, still laughing.  
“You lost me there, Danvers,” Maggie admitted. “I thought she was sick? She didn’t seem too sick to me.”  
“Kara is sick. She has RP, retinitis pigmentosa. She’s slowly going blind. We don’t talk about it much, but I’m assuming she can only see light and dark anymore, nothing else.”  
“She’s blind?” surprise was evident in Maggie’s voice.  
“You don’t really notice it, do you?” Alex smiled. “Her other senses got heightened because of her slowly deteriorating eyesight, which she uses to compensate for it. She can pull it off rather good, I suppose. I even sometimes forget.”  
“She’s really good at hiding it, that’s for sure. I pride myself in being a good detective, yet I didn’t know.”  
“She’ll be happy to hear that,” the doctor smiled. “Shall we join the party again? I can’t imagine what hypotheses my mother has already conjured about why we aren’t in the main hall.”  
“You sure you’re up for it, Danvers?” Maggie smiled.  
“To see Lord’s scowl? Always,” she laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it has been so long! I was so busy, I totally lost track of time, until someone at FF reviewed and asked me to update, and I realized I've been keeping you waiting for so long!

“Alex! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”  
Maggie turned around to see Kara heading for them, joined by a man she hadn’t seen before. By the way he was looking at the younger Danvers’ sister, he was either her boyfriend, or the one with an impossible crush stuck in the friendzone. It was almost impossible to see, but if you looked, you could see he was guiding Kara towards her sister.  
“I gave Maggie a tour of the venue,” Alex answered.  
“Don’t lie to me Alex,” her sister reprimanded her.  
“I’m fine now,” the doctor sighed.  
“You’re not going to be anymore when you hear this,” Kara said. “Lord has been telling everyone about how happy Lucy is with James and how it won’t be long before they’d get engaged and little ones start running around.”  
“That ass.”  
Maggie could tell the doctor was seething, but trying to keep it together.  
“They know you were faking it, Alex.”  
“Wait a minute,” Maggie interrupted. “Lucy and James, as in Lucy Lane and James Olsen? Lucy Lane daughter of Sergeant Detective Lane, named as our future DA Lucy Lane?”  
“That one,” Alex nodded. “And we never told anyone we were dating or did anything that lead them to believe that, they just assumed when I turned up with her.”  
“Mom told everyone you were,” Kara said. “Dating. Now she has to come back on her words, and she’s a thousand times more suspicious about you two.”  
“Good thing I don’t have a fiance or boyfriend running around somewhere,” Maggie tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but could see Alex was about to break down again.  
“Alex? Your heartbeat is going up like crazy? Are you okay?” Kara asked.  
The older Danvers took in a deep breath, trying to steady the rhythm of her heart again.  
“I will be, Kara, don’t worry about me,” she started.   
“Yeah, we’ll fix this,” Maggie said, earning herself a glare from her date.

“Hey Kara,” her friend said, “I think I saw some waiters come out with some different dish than before. Want to go check it out?”  
The happiness in the younger Danvers’ eyes was unmistakable.   
“Winn! And you are telling me just now? Let’s go!” Kara shrieked and they both left, for what Maggie could only guess was the kitchen.

***SANVERS***

Alex tried to think while seeing her sister leave with Winn.  
“Hey, you really okay?” she felt the detective put her hand on her lower back.  
“I can’t ask this of you,” Alex said, sighing. “I can’t ask you to put up with this charade, just for me.”  
“Look at me, Danvers,” she felt a tug on her wrist.

She looked up into dark brown eyes, which looked very concerned, very sincere, and were suddenly very close.  
“There’s no place I’d rather be than here,” Maggie whispered, and let their lips touch, if only very briefly. “I didn’t lie that I have a boyfriend - or a girlfriend for that matter - hidden away somewhere. I don’t do relationships, but I can do this. I can promise you to help you through this, in any way I can.”  
It was impossible to Alex to pinpoint what exactly it was that was calming her down: the way Maggie was speaking, the softness of her voice or the tenderness in that kiss. All she knew was that all of a sudden, she had a feeling everything was going to be okay.

“Alexandra Danvers!”  
There was only one person that called her that, which meant her mother had heard the Lucy and James story.  
“Yes mother,” she turned around to face the storm, feeling the detective’s hand on her lower back to ground her.   
“What is this thing I hear about Lucy? And some guy James? Is that the same James Kara is friends with?”  
The older woman was seething, feeling like she was made a fool by her eldest daughter.  
“The same one, mother,” Alex answered, trying to stay calm. The hand on her back really helped, to her own surprise.  
“They are a lovely couple,” she heard Maggie say. “They’ve been together for, how long now babe?”  
What is she doing? Alex wondered, feeling the panic returning. The other woman was about to make this so much worse.  
“I think they’ve been dating about three years now,” she answered, scared but following Maggie’s lead anyway.  
“Why was she here as your date for the past two years then?” Eliza Danvers asked. “You told me you two were dating!”  
“I never said such a thing,” Alex defended herself. “You assumed when I told you I’d bring a date. I just didn’t want to be at these things alone, with Kara raiding the kitchen and leaving me alone all the time, while everyone wanted to talk about dad.”  
That last part was to really sell it, mentioning her late father might stop her mother’s train of thought.  
She felt the hand on her back pull her closer, until the side of her body was flush against the detective’s. She felt a nose rest in the crook of her neck. She felt her heart started racing again, but this time her mother wasn’t the reason.  
It threw her off, losing focus on her mother for a second.  
The soft pressing of the nose disappeared, and Alex found she missed it immediately.  
“It must be very hard for you, feeling as if everyone thinks you were lying to them,” Maggie said to her mother when the older woman didn’t respond to what Alex had just said. “They assumed, as well. Alex has told me how much your husband’s parting and Kara’s disease has been weighing her down. But to avoid any future misunderstandings, I am really dating your daughter, as in she has stolen my heart and I don’t want it back, ever. I hope you can find it in your heart to believe that, despite the circumstances.”

The detective was really selling it, Alex could tell by her mother’s face softening. She tightened her grip on the other woman, just to prove their point.

“I see, Maggie. I’m sorry for going at you two like this, while you haven’t been dating for very long yet, I assume.”  
“Didn’t take me more than seeing your daughter walk through the door the first day at the precinct, to fall madly in love with her, Mrs Danvers - I mean - Eliza. I know it sounds cheesy and like a total cliche, but it is the truth.”  
Alex felt something in her belly flutter, even though she knew rationally the other woman was only saying this to get her mother off of their backs.  
“It’s very beautiful how you say it,” Eliza Danvers said. “I hope you can enjoy the evening, as I’m not the only one who got doubts by hearing about James.”  
“The only one that needs to believe me, is Maggie, mom,” Alex said, earning herself the already familiar pressing of a nose in the crook of her neck. It was impossible not to smile at the feeling.  
“Then I’ll leave you two at it,” the older woman said. “Enjoy your evening, and it was nice to meet you, Maggie.”  
“It was nice to meet you too, Eliza. I hope to see you again soon.”

***SANVERS***

Maggie let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding, when she saw the older woman walk away. The arm Alex had put around her earlier in the conversation tightened, and she could feel her hot breath on her ear.  
“Thank you.”  
The detective smiled.  
“You know, just because I might have sold it to your mother, doesn’t mean all the other guests believe us,” she said.  
“I believed you,” Alex laughed, causing Maggie to laugh as well.  
“Then let’s sell it to the rest,” she said, turning their bodies so they were facing each other, noses only mere centimeters apart.  
Maggie could feel her breath getting stuck inside her throat, and she could swear she saw the doctor have the same reaction, right before soft but hungry lips found her own.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait! Hopefully this chapter will make up for it. Enjoy!

Alex woke up by a soft dip in the mattress besides her. For a split second her still dreaming mind allowed her to be confused about who had caused it, before she had to fight off a tickling attack.  
“Kara! Stop! I can’t breath!” she laughed, opening her eyes to see her sister bouncing on the bed.  
“But it’s Sister Sunday, and you’re still sleeping,” the younger Danvers pouted.  
Alex turned around to look at the clock, which read 10 AM. It confused her, because usually her wandering mind would force her to wake up no later than 7.  
“I was, but now I’m right awake!” she yelled, this time being the one who started the tickling war.

A few minutes later, both Danvers sisters laid on top of the bed, completely out of breath.  
“So what do you want to do today?” Alex asked. She usually let Kara decide, not wanting to suggest something her sister wasn’t able to do anymore.  
“I want to talk about Maggie,” she heard her sister say, and the mere mention of that name caused Alex to smile.  
“I can hear you smiling all the way over here,” Kara laughed.  
“No you can’t,” Alex protested.  
“No I can’t,” her sister laughed, “but I can hear your heart speeding up, and your breathing quickening, so I’m assuming you have a dumb smile on your face.”  
Alex hated it when her sister was right about something like this.  
“Fine,” she admitted, “I had a good time yesterday. Happy now?”  
“Not yet! Tell me about how good a kisser she is! Are you going to see each other again? Are you dating for real now? Do you like her?”  
The older Danvers sister laughed at her baby sister’s rant.  
“She’s an amazing kisser, I’ll see her at work tomorrow, no, trick question,” she answered all of the questions.  
“How is if you like her a trick question?” Kara asked, confused.  
“Because the person she was yesterday, it was all an act. I liked the act, and I’ll probably ask her again for the next fundraiser mum decides to throw, but that’s it. None of it was real, Kara.”  
“The hell it was,” Kara said, surprising her sister by swearing like that. “I may be almost blind, but I’m not stupid Alex. People were talking about how in love you two looked, in your own little bubble. That couldn’t have been all an act. No one’s that good, especially not you.”  
“Well, thank you, I think that was supposed to be a compliment,” Alex said. “But it was an act, she just made it easy.”  
“You’re lying to me again, Alex,” Kara reprimanded her.  
“Fine, I do like her, it was an amazing night, but for her, this was all just another undercover job, without criminals. I’m not going to let myself believe otherwise,” the elder woman admitted and then successfully ended that conversation with “So what do you want for breakfast?”

***SANVERS***

Maggie woke up, but refused to open her eyes. Not yet, she thought, because when she kept them close, she could still feel Alex’ lips against hers, her hand on her back and the way her pulse started rushing against her nose when she pulled her close.  
The detective let out a deep breath, smiling contently. Last night couldn’t have gone better. It had been amazing, wonderful, the best date she had ever had.

No, not a date, she corrected herself. She didn’t date, not anymore. But this, with Alex, with clear boundaries, was something she could get used to. She would definitely not refuse if the doctor would ask her again.

After another five minutes of reminiscing, Maggie finally opened her eyes. There was already light in the room, the summer sun deciding to come out even more brightly as usual today, or so it seemed to the detective. She put on her running clothes and was outside in a matter of minutes.

While on her morning run, Maggie thought back of the events of the previous night. The James rumor had been brutal on Alex, making her the focus of attention of everyone present, something she had soon learned the doctor hated. The only option had been to make it look different than when Alex had brought Lucy, and lucky for the detective, the other woman must’ve had the same idea.

Because oh god, that kiss.

Maggie couldn’t fight the smile off of her face when remembering their kiss. It had been tender, soft, yet hungry and urgent. As if the story they were selling to the others, was true for those few moments. It had been perfect.

And because it had felt so real, it had scared Maggie. She had decided a long time ago that to protect herself from getting hurt, she would have to keep herself away from love and relationships. The last girl she had been with, had broken up with her in such a savage way, had said things that had hurt so much, Maggie was certain she wouldn’t be able to survive that again.   
This fake relationship thing, it worked for her. No feelings, no commitment, just enjoying the moment.

Maggie was so lost in thought, she nearly ran into someone.  
“Oh excuse me,” she said, quickly being forced back to the real world.  
“It’s okay Maggie, I hadn’t seen you coming either,” she heard the other woman laugh, and quickly joined in the laughter.

***SANVERS***

It had happened so fast, Alex hadn’t had the chance to pull Kara out of the way.  
“Little Danvers,” she heard the other woman, who had run into Kara, say.  
There was only one person who called her sister that.

“Maggie?” she asked confused.  
“Hi Alex,” the detective smiled, dimples in full display. “I’m sorry, I was lost in thought, didn’t see you guys coming. I should pay more attention.”  
“It’s okay, Maggie,” Kara smiled. “Now that we ran into each other, would you like to join us for breakfast?”  
“Isn’t it too late for breakfast?”   
“People just call it brunch, but it’s still breakfast,” Alex explained, quickly getting over the effect those dimples had on her.   
“So many words for eating,” Kara said. “So, will you join us?”  
“I don’t know,” the detective seemed to hesitate. “I’m all sweaty from running and you guys have Sister Sunday now.”  
“It doesn’t me and I’m the person with heightened senses and a sister to share. Please?”   
The puppy dog eyes came out, possibly more powerful than those dimples, Alex mused.  
“Fine, lead the way, little Danvers,” Maggie finally agreed and followed an overly happy Kara towards her favorite brunch place.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it has been AGES! I'm very sorry, but now I return with good news: I've made this story my NaNo project this year. For those unfamiliar of NaNoWriMo, I've basically challenged myself to write 50.000 words for this story, by the end of November.
> 
> I can't promise to upload every day, but know I'm working on it daily, aiming for an average of 1667 words per day. That's a little over a chapter a day!

Alex tried not to smile when she noticed how close Maggie sat down next to her in the booth, Kara across from them. A knowing glance her sister threw her way, told her she should get her heart rate under control, and fast, before the detective would be able to tell as well.

“So tell me, Little Danvers, what’s good?” she heard Maggie ask, while scanning over the menu.  
“Alex usually only orders coffee, and I the rest of the menu,” her sister smiled. “High metabolism,” she pointed at herself.  
“I did notice you sneak off a lot yesterday at the fundraiser, to the kitchen I assume?”  
A guilty grin appeared on Kara’s face.  
“So only coffee, Alex?” the focus of the detective changed sisters and Alex felt her heart rate go crazy again. “That’s not very healthy,” she added with a smile.

Oh god, those dimples would be the end of her.

“I’m not big on eating when I just woke up,” Alex offered, “my stomach can’t handle more than coffee for at least a few hours.”  
The other woman simply smiled at her, before looking at the menu again.  
“Okay, Little Danvers, since food is your thing, I trust your judgement. I’m craving something sweet, but not too sweet, that will fill me up just enough to complete my run after this,” she said, and put the menu down.  
Kara was almost glowing when she raised her hand to signal a waiter.

***SANVERS***

“This is delicious,” Maggie said, after taking a bite of what the younger sister had ordered for her. 

From the corner of her eye, she could see the older sister carefully sipping her coffee, which must still be way too hot to drink.  
“So this is tradition on Sister Sunday? Brunch?” she asked, curious about the tradition.  
“Usually I go over to Kara’s in the morning, and we get here a lot earlier, but today I overslept and Kara came to wake me up,” Alex overshared.  
Maggie thought it was cute, but caught herself before she voiced that thought out loud.  
“Then we watch movies and talk about everything and nothing and by lunchtime, I order potstickers from that Chinese place Kara likes,” the oldest sister continued, her sister too busy cramming the different types of food in her mouth. “And evenings are pizza.”  
“A day full of fast food and movies then?” Maggie asked. “Sounds healthy enough”, she laughed.  
Alex simply shrugged.  
“It’s tradition,” she said, refocusing her attention on her coffee.

“Alex, mom’s coming,” Kara suddenly said.  
“How…?” Maggie started, but she wasn’t able to finish that sentence, for the oldest Danvers woman entering the cafe.  
“Alex, Kara, I’m happy to see you,” their mother smiled, but she didn’t need to be a detective to notice that the smile wasn’t very sincere when looking at her eldest daughter. “Maggie, are you joining Sister Sunday now?” she asked.  
“I ran into them on my morning run,” she felt compelled to explain, unsure of how to handle this situation.  
She tried to find Alex’ gaze, but found only panic. 

They hadn’t talked about this, about what would happen outside of the fundraisers. A rookie mistake, Maggie realised now, but it was too late now. She would have to play this by ear.

“Lucky you,” Eliza Danvers said, not noticing her eldest daughter’s panic. “I’ve tried to join in several times, but they never let me.”  
“That’s because you’re our mother,” Kara said, “you wouldn’t understand our traditions.”  
“You mean I wouldn’t approve of your eating habits,” her mother said, eyeing the foods spread out on the table.

Maggie was grateful of the small distraction Kara had provided, and made good use of it by putting her hand on Alex’ thigh and squeezing it lightly. It helped gaining the doctor’s attention, and Maggie gave her wink that she hoped was comforting. She noticed the doctor exhaling deeply, as if she was letting go of a breath she had been holding.

***SANVERS***

As soon as she noticed Maggie winking at her, Alex knew everything was going to be alright. The detective had her back, and they would talk about this later.

“Can I bring you something, ma’am?” the waiter came, having noticed the extension of their party.  
“Just coffee please,” Eliza answered, and then refocused on her daughter’s date. “So Maggie, were you able to enjoy yourself last night? At the fundraiser I mean, I don’t need to hear any other details,” she added, gaining a shocked “Mom!” from both her daughters and bright red on Maggie’s cheeks.  
“I had a wonderful evening,” the detective answered, still looking like an overripe tomato.  
“Mom, you’re embarrassing Maggie,” she decided to try and save the other woman.  
“I’m sorry,” Eliza said, “I had no intention in embarrassing you, Maggie, I was simply trying to prevent you from embarrassing me.”  
“It’s okay, Eliza,” the detective said. “I wasn’t expecting that question, that’s all.”

Alex was very happy with the woman sitting by her side. She played her part like a pro. And that was what it was, she had to remind herself. She was only playing a part. It wasn’t real. 

But it felt so real, Alex thought, why does it feel so real?

She looked at the woman on her left, who was having a serious discussion with her sister about stealing her food, and Alex couldn’t help but smile. Kara had thought herself to be sneaky, taking part of Maggie’s food while she was distracted by Eliza, but the detective had caught her righthanded.

“I’m a cop, Kara,” she said while laughing. “This is what I do.”  
Kara had the decency to at least look a bit guilty.  
“You should’ve just asked,” the dark haired woman added, making a giant smile magically appear on the younger Danvers’ face when she pushed her plate to the other side of the table.  
“I thought I had raised you better,” Eliza shook her head.  
“It’s okay, Eliza, I was about to leave anyway. I still have my run to finish,” Maggie smiled.  
“I’ll walk you out,” Alex quickly rose to her feet.  
Maggie simply smiled and grabbed a hold of her hand.  
“It was nice to see you again, Kara, Eliza,” she said and gave a little wave with her free hand, before heading for the exit.

Once outside, Maggie stopped and forced Alex to look at her.  
“You okay?” she asked.  
“Yeah,” the doctor smiled. “It was just a surprise, my mom showing up over here and it made me realize we hadn’t talked about what would happen after the fundraiser…”  
“Rookie mistake, Danvers,” the detective grinned. “But I was serious last night that I don’t have anyone that could be bothered about us… faking it, for a lack of a better term. So I’m cool with whatever you want to do,” she said, meaning every word of it

This, this thing with Alex, it wasn’t bad. She liked being around the doctor, it felt nice. So it wouldn’t bother her if they decided to continue their little act.

“Seeing my mom like this, it’s been a long time ago that she was actually this civil to me… I’d hate to ruin that now by telling her the truth,” Alex said, lost in thoughts. “But that would mean we would have to act like it as well at the precinct, because if your partner would find out it isn’t real, he’d hurry over to my mom in no time to tell on us. Look at how fast he was at spreading the Lucy story yesterday.”  
Maggie nodded in agreement, and pulled the other woman closer, until their bodies were flush against each other.

***SANVERS***

For a second there, Alex forgot how to breath again. How does she do it, she wondered, I’m not normally like this.  
“What’s your passcode?” she heard Maggie ask.  
“What?” she asked confused.  
“Your passcode. Of your phone.”  
Still not knowing why the detective needed it, she told her. That’s when she felt something leave her back pocket.

Time stopped for a second after that.  
Soft lips were pressed against her cheek, and they were gone too soon.

“You almost look as if you were enjoying that, Danvers,” Maggie laughed, typing away on what must be Alex’ phone. “But it makes a nice screensaver.”

It took Alex a second to realise that the other woman had taken a picture of them.

“I sent it to myself, so now I’ve got your number as well,” the detective smiled, dimples on display.  
“Smooth,” Alex grinned, finally regaining her footing in this game. “Are you this smooth with all the girls?”  
“Just the cute ones,” Maggie flirted back.

The sight of the dark haired woman looking at her like that, Alex just had to kiss her. So she pulled her back closer by the waist and crashed her lips onto the other woman’s.

“See you around, Danvers,” Maggie smiled, after pulling back a little.   
“See you tomorrow, Sawyer,” Alex waved, before heading back inside.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one today! All Alex' POV, this one. Hope you enjoy!

“You look happy,” her mother said when Alex sat back down. “I don’t remember ever seeing you this happy before.”  
“That’s because I really am, mom,” the older Danvers sister said. “Happy that is.”  
“Glad to hear that, Alex,” she smiled. “This Maggie girl must be really special.”  
“Hey, why don’t we all hang out today? Together? Make it a Danvers Day?” Kara saved her sister from answering.  
“If your sister is okay with it, I don’t have anything planned,” Eliza shrugged, looking hopeful at her eldest daughter.  
“Of course, mom, why not? But I’m afraid we’re still eating potstickers today, Kara would kill us if we don’t,” she laughed.

It was nice The day was nice, her mother seemed to want to make up for the other night, and for the first time in a very long time, Alex never craved a strong drink while in her mother’s company.

They had decided on going to the zoo, because Kara loved all the different kinds of animals this planet had to offer. She might not be able to see them anymore, but she could hear them, smell them, and hear the rhythm of their hearts. It made her feel alive, she claimed, and the other two women wanted nothing else than to see the youngest Danvers happy.

Eliza stayed for potstickers, but decided not to stay for pizza. She told her girls that they’d understand when they were older and their metabolisms wouldn’t go at rocket speed anymore. Kara had just shrugged and grabbed her phone to call in their usual.

When she returned to Alex’ living room, their mother had already left.

“I had a nice time today,” she tried, sitting down next to Alex with a content sigh.  
“Me too,” her older sister admitted. “Even though it meant lying to mom about Maggie.”  
“That was your call,” Kara said, “I wouldn’t have lied in the first place. Why do you always do that to yourself?” she asked.  
“Because she never looks at me the way she looks at you. And today, because she believes that I’m dating this amazing, wonderful, gorgeous woman, she almost did,” Alex told her. “I don’t have what you have, Kara, the privilege of not being perfect. And you still are, the most perfect person I’ve ever encountered.”  
“I’m not perfect,” her younger sister said. “Far from it. A perfect person would be able to see the smile on your face when you look at the girl you love.”

Alex could see her sister turning more into herself, looking really sad.

“Hey,” she said, “you know you can talk to me about it, right?”  
Kara nodded. A tear escaped, rolling down her cheek.  
“It’s just so hard to always be this strong. I sometimes envy people who have been blind since birth, because they don’t know what they are missing. I miss so many things, Alex. I miss seeing you smile, I miss being treated without pity. Today at the zoo, I missed seeing the monkeys do their crazy tricks. I feel so broken, and there is no way I’ll ever be fixed.”  
“Mom is working on it,” Alex tried, but she immediately saw it wasn’t helping.  
“She’ll never fix me, Alex. She’ll be able to help others, but I’ve given up that hope a long time ago. I know you’ve done it too, and it’s okay,” she said, when Alex tried to tell her the opposite. “I know it, and it’s okay, because it’s the rational thing to do. I don’t blame you for leaving the research team when dad died.”  
“Mom does,” Alex said, pain obvious in her voice. Damn it, she really wanted to hide that when her sister was being so vulnerable.  
“She doesn’t, but she’s starting to realise the thing we did a long time ago, and it scares her. She feels like she’s letting me down, by not finding the cure, but most of all, like she’s letting dad down, for not being able to finish what he started. It’s hard on her, so seeing you so happy today with Maggie, it healed her a little bit, I think. Not that I could see,” she added to herself, but Alex had heard her.  
“You saw it first, this morning, and yesterday evening, before everyone else did,” she said. “You see things, not with your eyes, but by looking with all of your other senses. And by doing that, you can see things no one can. And I admire you for it, Kara, I’m even a little jealous of it, if I’m being completely honest. I might have seen the crazy tricks those monkeys did, but you saw how that one monkey was trying to impress that female by doing those tricks, and how she only had eyes for another male. Those are things us mere humans can’t see, and you can. I can’t lie to you about how I feel about Maggie, or mom, because you always know. And that makes you special, Kara, that makes you unique.”  
“But what if I don’t want to be special, what if I don’t want to be unique?” her little sister asked, the tears hidden away again by all those nice things that were said.  
“You have a special gift, and with that I don’t just mean your puppydog eyes or your ability to light up an entire room just by smiling. You can see people for who they really are, and that’s an amazing power. Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility,” she smiled.  
“Are you quoting Spiderman on me, Alex?” Kara laughed.  
“I guess I am,” Alex laughed as well.

The doorbell rang, interrupting their laughter that had evolved in a pillow fight.

“I’ll get it,” Alex said.

When she returned to her living room with the pizzas in hand, her sister was already eager to start. She barely had time to put the boxes down on the coffee table before Kara dove in.  
After grabbing a cold beer for herself and a soda for her little sister, she sat back down on the couch, noticing half of the first pizza had already disappeared.

“You really couldn’t wait, could you?” she laughed, and Kara simply shrugged, mouth full of pizza. “So, what movie do you want to see?” she asked.  
“I was thinking Pretty Woman, I love that one,” her sister answered in between bites.  
“Great choice, as always,” Alex agreed and started scrolling down her Netflix to find it.

Half an hour later, Alex was watching the movie with Kara asleep against her shoulder, when her phone lit up on the coffee table. Careful not to wake up her sleeping sister, she grabbed the phone and opened the new message.

Unknown number: I don’t know why it bothers me so much that I haven’t heard from you since this morning. Are you spending time with other women?

Alex couldn’t help but smile at this. She quickly saved the number on her phone and typed out an answer.

Danvers: I have been all day, with two women, if we are being totally honest.  
Danvers: One is even asleep cuddling against me.

Sawyer: Two? Already? I’m feeling slightly replaced.

Danvers: That would be impossible.

Sawyer: Can’t wait to see you tomorrow, gorgeous. Sleep tight with that other woman cuddling against you.

Alex’ grin was threatening to break her face. She picked Kara up and carried her over to her guest bedroom, before getting ready for bed herself. The grin was still evident on her face when she fell asleep that night.


	13. Chapter 13

Maggie was ready for today.  
There was no other way to describe the feelings she was having.

She was looking forward to seeing Max’ face, after last Saturday, especially when he might catch some interaction between herself and Alex. Which brings her thoughts straight to the cute doctor, with whom she had been texting last night, causing herself to fall asleep smiling.

It had taken her a while to find the courage to text the doctor, because Maggie wasn’t sure yet if Alex would want them to talk in private as well. But there was no way she could have stopped herself from sending that text. Getting the almost immediate answer had been one of the most satisfying things Maggie had experienced. 

Even thinking back to it, the subtle flirting, she couldn’t help but smile and ignore every warning signal that was going off inside her mind.

***SANVERS***

Alex was looking at the clothes spread out on her bed. 

It was only a day of work, she chastised herself, but she couldn’t help but hesitate on which outfit she should wear.

This is ridiculous, she shook her head and grabbed herself a shirt and pants.

Her phone, lying on her nightstand, lit up.

A childish enthusiasm took over Alex when she ran up to it, only to be disappointed when she saw the caller ID.

“J’onn,” she picked up.  
“Alex. We’ve got something. You should come over.”  
“I’m on my way, I’ll be there in thirty.”

***SANVERS***

When Maggie arrived at her desk that morning, there was a styrofoam cup waiting for her. She suspiciously eyed Max, remembering his bargaining offer the week before, but he didn’t seem to even have noticed the cup.  
Picking up the cup, the detective noticed the piece of paper lying underneath it.

Had a quick errand to run. Lunch? A. x

“Who got into your knickers this morning?” Max asked, finally noticing his partner, or more likely, the giant stupid grin on her face.  
“None of your business,” Maggie quickly schooled her features.  
“Hey, you didn’t bring me any coffee?” he now noticed the styrofoam cup in Maggie’s hand.  
“Figured you already had one,” she simply shrugged and sat down behind her desk, determined to find that missing person’s file.

***SANVERS***

Alex walked into the building of the DEO, finding it exactly the same as she left it. People looked up from what they were doing and nodded when they recognised their former colleague.

“Danvers, over here,” Vasquez motioned her to come closer. She was sitting in front of a large wall filled with computer screens.  
“Hi Winn, Vasquez,” Alex greeted them when she stood next to their chairs.  
“Alex,” Winn greeted her. “How was your day with Kara,” he asked, quite familiar with Sister Sunday.  
“It was great,” she simply said. “So what have you found out?”  
“We checked the bugs, like you asked us to,” Vasquez started. “I saw the autopsy reports and pictures, you were right to call us. This perp knew exactly what was in your possibilities at the precinct. But he never knew we could use the bugs, because he didn’t try to hide those.”  
“She didn’t die on that dump, but that you probably already guessed,” Winn continued. “The bugs showed she was already dead for a month when you found her. We found five different types of bugs, and they had been eating two different kinds of sand, so we could narrow the location down to this area on the map,” he pulled up a giant map across the wall of screens.   
“There are a few bars out there, but none serve the food and drinks you found in her stomach,” J’onn said, when he came standing next to Winn. “I suggest you go out there, and talk to some locals about the missing girl. But Alex,” he said, using his dad-voice as the Danvers sisters used to call it, “be careful who you trust.”  
“I will. Thanks you guys,” Alex nodded and turned around to leave again.

***SANVERS***

“Maggie,” Alex smiled, when she walked into her morgue and noticed the latina sitting in her chair.  
“Hi you,” the detective smiled back.  
“What are you doing here? Oh wait,” Alex looked at her watch, “you’re here to get lunch.”  
“I figured you invited me to it this morning. How come you haven’t been picking up your phone? I’ve called you when I couldn’t find you.”  
“Oh, it must still be switched off,” the doctor said, turning her phone back on. The phone immediately started pinging, showing her a missed call from Kara, two from Maggie, and a few texts from the detective telling her yes to lunch and then wondering where she was.  
“I’m sorry,” Alex said, pulling the other woman closer.  
“Where were you?” Maggie whispered in her ear, her hot breath sending shivers down her entire body.  
It took her a second to recover from that, before she could answer “Not here”, whispering as well.  
“Then take me somewhere.”

***SANVERS***

Maggie hadn’t known what to expect when she had told Alex to take her somewhere. Certainly not the top of a hill, with a view to die for.

“Here we can talk,” the doctor said, after pulling out her device. “Turn off your phone though, it should keep others from finding us.”  
The detective did as she was told, taking the opportunity to get closer to the other woman.  
“You don’t want them to interrupt us?” she smiled, noses only inches apart.   
She could see the breath catch in Alex’ throat and relished in the effect she had on this woman.  
“Something like that,” the doctor stuttered, and Maggie couldn’t help but laugh.  
“Let’s eat first, I’m starving,” she said and grabbed herself one of the sandwiches they had brought. “Then you can tell me all about the exciting adventures you had this morning.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with another chapter! I'm a comment addict, so please let me know what you're thinking!

“You’re insane, you can’t go to those bars alone, you need backup,” Maggie said, her voice leaving no room for discussion. “I’m going with you.”  
“I can’t ask that of you,” Alex shook her head. “It’s too dangerous.”  
“So it’s too dangerous for a trained officer of the law, who has done dozens of undercover jobs, but it’s not too dangerous for a Medical Examiner?” she asked, shaking her head.  
“I haven’t told you everything about the DEO,” the doctor deflected.  
“So tell me.”  
“I shouldn’t…”

Maggie could see the inner turmoil her request had caused within the other woman. She scooted over, until she could put her arm around Alex.   
“I really shouldn’t,” she could hear the other woman say, barely louder than a whisper.  
“I’m not going to tell anyone, Alex. You can trust me,” she said.  
“I know.”  
“Then why don’t you tell me? Let me help you. You’re not on your own on this one.”

There were tears in Alex’ eyes when she looked up to meet Maggie’s.  
“I want to tell you, but you have to promise me you’ll keep this to yourself.”  
The detective nodded, keeping silent for what was about to come.  
“Thirty years ago, my father was a successful scientist and J’onn one of the best soldiers in the Special Forces. They had been friends all of their lives, since they were kids, and they had this basement underneath J’onn’s parents’ house where they would pretend to save the world. One day, a kid in the neighbourhood got missing. The police did everything they could, but they couldn’t find him. My dad and J’onn had known this kid and his parents well, so they wanted to help. My father re-examined everything the police had found and more, and J’onn found some colleagues who helped him get the kid back, after they had located him. It had all felt so great, helping, doing more, that they started the DEO. A top secret agency, with a top of the art lab, filled with the best scientists.”  
Maggie wiped away the tear that had escaped, feeling the doctor lean into her touch for comfort.  
“That was what my dad had brought to the table. He found prodigies, and teached them to be the best, in ways they would’ve never learned at school. They found leads where everyone else would have given up a long time ago.”  
“So what did J’onn do?” Maggie dared to ask.  
“He trained the best soldiers you could ever wish for. Hand to hand combat, weapon use, stealth tactics, you name it.”  
“So you’re not just a Medical Examiner,” it all fell into place.  
“No, I’m not. I am, I mean I was Special Agent Alex Danvers of the DEO, top scientist and one of the best field agents the DEO had ever seen in it’s history,” the other woman sighed.

Maggie pulled her close in a hug, letting her know it was okay to let her tears fall free.

“You became what your father had dreamed you to be,” she whispered. “But I’m sure, Alex, even though I’ve never had the chance to get to know him, he’d be proud of you right now as well, Chief Medical Examiner Danvers.”  
The woman in her arms wiped away her tears and looked up at Maggie.  
“You mean that?”  
“I mean, Special Agent Danvers of the DEO sounds sexy as hell, but you don’t need that title to be who you are, Alex,” she smiled.  
“Thank you,” she got a smile in return.  
“So will you let me help you?” Maggie tried.  
For a second she thought Alex would still refuse, but then she got a nod.  
“We’ll go tonight.”

***SANVERS***

They walked into the third bar of the night, when Alex noticed the pool table standing in the corner.  
“Game of pool,” she offered at her companion.  
“Sure, we deserve a break,” Maggie agreed. “I’ll go get us what we need. A beer?”  
Alex nodded and already headed over to the pool table to wait there on the detective.

They had found nothing yet, no one seemed to know anything about a girl that had disappeared from around here a month ago. It was starting to frustrate Alex, but she knew it was all part of the process. Her years at the DEO had taught her the patience that was necessary to solve the difficult cases. 

It was obvious her partner of the night hadn’t learned that patience. With every person that couldn’t tell them anything, she could feel the frustration in the detective grow. That’s why she had suggested, after two bars and double the hours, they’d take a break. 

“Ready to get your ass handed to you?” Alex grinned when Maggie returned at the table.  
“Want to put a bet on that?” Maggie returned her grin.  
“Always,” Alex said, and she smiled, already feeling sorry for her friend for the amount of money she was about to lose.

***SANVERS***

“This can’t be real, you’re cheating,” Maggie grumbled, after losing the third consecutive game.

They had long forgotten their mission, choosing to enjoy their evening together instead.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Sawyer,” Alex grinned smugly, counting her money again.  
“I guess you did. One more?” Maggie asked, not ready to end this evening with the doctor yet.  
“You’re all out of money,” the other woman shook her head. “I’d feel bad to beat you, again. But one more drink, I’m buying.”

Maggie agreed and saw Alex leave for the bar.  
Although the doctor had made a fair attempt at distracting her, she still couldn’t shake the frustration off that they hadn’t made any progress yet. It scared her, that this girl had been so unnoticable that no one even figured she got missing, a month after she got killed. The detective was starting to get angry at herself, for not being able to solve this case. She felt as if she was that girl’s final hope, and she was letting her down.

“Hey, you okay?” Alex asked.  
Maggie hadn’t noticed her coming back.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just bothered about the case, I guess,” she answered honestly.  
“Me too,” Alex confessed. “It’s strange that we can’t find any leads, at all. Something’s off.”  
“Something definitely is,” Maggie agreed, taking a large sip from her drink.

“How are you two fine ladies tonight? Care to join us for a drink?”  
Maggie could see Alex tense up, and tried to relieve that tension a bit by putting her hand on the other woman’s arm.  
“I’m sorry, we’re not interested,” she simply said, hoping those two goons would go away.   
They didn’t look to bright, two major fitness jocks thinking they could pull any woman they wanted just by walking by.  
“Come on, just one drink,” Dumb said, his friend Dumber agreeing with him.  
“No thank you, she already said we’re not interested,” Alex repeated, now turning around to face the two men.  
“They must be dykes,” Dumber said to his friend, both of them laughing. “We can cure you from that affliction, girls.”  
He put his hand on Alex’ arm, holding her with a firm grip.

Maggie instinctively reached behind her back, grabbing her gun.  
“Don’t,” Alex whispered, seeing what she was doing. “I’ve got this.”

Everything happened in mere seconds.  
Maggie had seen Alex raise a grown man off of the ground with only one hand, but this she had never expected to see. With one smooth motion, the doctor broke free from the iron grip, flipping Dumber into the wall in the process. His friend saw what was happening and decided to go help his friend, armed with a cue, which he tried to brake on Alex’ back.  
Tried being the keyword, because before he could even start to swing, Alex already turned around and disarmed him.

Dumb and Dumber hadn’t come alone, and soon four other men were standing around the two woman.  
“Told you you’d need back up,” Maggie said between her teeth, leaving her gun were it was, as Alex had asked.  
The other woman simply laughed and intercepted the punch that was thrown her way, twisting the fist so that tears sprung in her attackers eyes. One of the other guys tried to jump on top of her together with Dumb, but Alex skillfully avoided them and let them fall into a pile onto the floor.

It all went faster than Maggie could comprehend. Every punch, every hit thrown her way, was expertly blocked by Alex, who then proceeded to form a pile of harmless men all around her.

“Told you I didn’t need back up,” she winked a the dumbfounded detective, “Let’s get out of here, before anyone else wants a go.”  
She grabbed Maggie’s hand and dragged her along, only stopping at the bar to drop a pack of bills on the counter, together with an apology.


	15. Chapter 15

Alex had invited Maggie back up to her apartment, to talk about what had just happened. The entire ride back had been silent, the latina woman eyeing her when she thought Alex didn’t notice.

She knew the detective would be full of questions. Alex had explained her the basics of the DEO, but she had just disposed of six full grown men in hand to hand combat in mere minutes. She hoped it wouldn’t scare the other woman away.

“So, about earlier,” Alex started, only to be interrupted by Maggie crashing her lips into hers.  
“That was so hot,” the detective said when they both needed oxygen, her voice hoarse.  
“Hmm,” Alex merely murmured, bringing their hungry lips back together.  
She put her hands on Maggie’s butt and lifted her with ease.  
“Bedroom,” was all that could be heard, unclear who thought it and who said it out loud.

***SANVERS***

Maggie could feel Alex lifting her up and she was thoroughly enjoying it. All the way over to her place, she had needed every ounce of self control she had to not kiss the special agent right there and then. Because in Maggie’s mind, the other woman was no longer a doctor, but most definitely a special agent, and sexy as hell.

She could feel them moving, towards what she could only guess was Alex’ bedroom. The built up arousal sent shivers down her spine, and all she could do was hold onto the woman that made her feel this way.

***SANVERS***

Alex was trying not to bump into anything while making her way over to her bed. Ignoring the mess she had probably better cleaned up before inviting Maggie, her heart was nearly beating out of her chest.  
All of their interactions since the fundraiser could’ve been interpreted as an act, as a way to make others believe there was something that there wasn’t. Every touch, every smile, every kiss, there was no way of telling if Maggie meant it or not.  
But right now, there was no one here. It was only the two of them, and their true feelings.

***SANVERS***

The bed felt soft underneath her when Alex carefully laid Maggie down on it. Her lips started exploring, and a small moan escaped the detective’s mouth.

This was happening.

This was really happening.

Oh shit.

Every ounce of denial still left in her body, hit Maggie full force.

If she did this, there would be no way back.  
She would have to admit how she felt about Alex, hoping the woman felt the same way.

\--- Which, by the way she was kissing her right now, she probably did.---

But even if the doctor felt the same way, she would stop feeling like it soon enough, when she realised she deserved so much better, that Maggie wasn’t a good person to be in a relationship with.

Panic started to replace arousal, and she slowly tried to create space between the two of them.

***SANVERS***

“Alex,” she heard Maggie say her name, but it didn’t sound right. “Alex, please, we have to stop.”  
A small push on her shoulder confirmed she had heard it right.

She stood up, looking down at the woman in her bed.

“What’s wrong,” Alex asked, her heart already breaking into a million pieces.  
She didn’t feel the same way.  
She got carried away and now this was going to be so awkward.

“Alex, we can’t do this. It’s not right,” she heard Maggie say, but all she understood was that she didn’t like her like Alex liked her.  
“I understand,” she simply answered, avoiding eye contact.  
“Alex,” a soft hand touched her cheek and it took so much effort to not start crying.  
“Don’t,” she said, not wanting to cry in front of the woman who had just broken her heart.  
“Alex, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. We work together,” but Alex was already walking towards her front door.  
“I think you should leave,” she said, surprised by the coldness in her own voice.  
She saw the other woman sigh in defeat. Without saying another word, Maggie left her apartment, leaving a crying Alex in her wake.

***SANVERS***

It was cold outside, when Maggie flagged down a cab. Her face was wet with silent tears, because she knew she had just hurt the woman she cared the most about.

This wasn’t easy, none of it was. She hadn’t wanted to fall for the doctor, especially not that fast. She hadn’t wanted to start something, she knew her heart couldn’t finish. And she had to protect her heart, because last time it got broken, it almost killed her.

Still, while sitting in the car, she thought about Alex, now alone in her apartment. She wondered if she would call Kara and tell her about the woman who had taken the first step towards more, only to run away scared. Maggie was certain she was crying, already having seen the tears that had threatened to fall. 

She felt like she had just lost a friend, but knew she had lost so much more.   
Why am I such an idiot? she thought to herself. Why do I have to hurt those I care about most?

Part of her wanted to turn around, to go back and hold Alex and tell her everything was going to be alright. But she couldn’t do that, she couldn’t give the other woman hope again, knowing she would have to break her heart again right away. Because what she had felt Alex wanted, she was not ready to give yet.

***SANVERS***

Alex was toying with her phone, wondering if she’d call Kara. Her sister would understand and know what to say to comfort her. On the other hand, she didn’t want Kara to see her like this, hurting, broken.

She didn’t understand. Maggie was the one who had kissed her, who had started it all. She thought they were finally on the same page, without having to talk about it. Now Alex knew that had been their mistake. They had never talked about how they felt, causing this confusion.

She wanted to stay friends with Maggie, because in a very short amount of time, she had become a vital part in Alex’ life. A part she wasn’t ready to let go of, not yet. 

Making a decision, she got up and grabbed her keys.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: mention of rape, suggestion of rape. I'll explain myself more at the end of the chapter.
> 
> I feel like I'm spoiling you guys today :-)

“Sawyer?”  
“Maggie, it’s Kara. Is Alex with you?”

The unknown number on the caller ID had already thrown Maggie off, but now hearing the younger Danvers sister with panic in her voice, made her completely nervous.

“No, I left her at her place a few hours ago. Why?” Maggie said, a very uncomfortable feeling settling in her gut.  
“I can’t reach her, her phone is turned off. It’s not like her, Maggie. I’m worried. She always picks up her phone when I’m calling her.”  
“Are you okay, Little Danvers?” Maggie asked, wondering why Kara would call her sister at 2 in the morning.  
“I’m okay, just a rough night and I wanted someone to talk to,” Kara said. “Do you have any idea where Alex could be?”  
“Wait,” something clicked, “you said her phone is turned off?”  
“Yes, it’s turned off.”  
“I think I know where to find her. I’ll call you when I find her, okay?” Maggie was already putting on her jacket.  
“Okay, thank you Maggie.”  
“You’re welcome, Little Danvers.”

***SANVERS***

A few hours earlier…

“Dr Danvers, what brings you to this part of town?” a familiar voice asked.  
Alex was sitting at the bar, nursing her third scotch since she had arrived.

Her intentions had been to continue the investigation she and Maggie had started, but when she had arrived at one of the bars that had still been on her list, the alcohol had called for her.  
It was a perfect excuse to talk to the bartender, who happened to be a cute blonde, which didn’t hurt. She didn’t know anything about the missing girl, though, so she had seen no harm in ordering another drink.

“Maxwell Lord, as if my night couldn’t get any worse,” she murmured to herself, but decided to welcome the detective with a nod.  
“That looks like a decent drink, want another one?” he asked.  
“Sure, why not,” Alex shrugged, finishing the drink in her hand.  
“So what brings you here?” Lord asked, sitting down next to the doctor.  
“Privacy, no one knows me here,” she lied.  
“And what has gotten you to drink like that?” he kept asking questions.  
“Does that matter?” Alex asked, wanting him to stop talking.  
“No, it doesn’t,” he smiled, and a shiver ran over Alex’ spine, but not a good one.

A few drinks later…

“So, Alex, having more fun already?” Maxwell Lord asked her, grinning smugly.  
Alex thought about how Maggie had made her feel earlier that night, the good and the bad, and all she could think off, was to do something forget it all.  
The blonde bartender had since long moved to the other end of the bar, only returning to refill their drinks on Max’ signal. The male detective had been showering her with compliments, always hovering around her. The attention felt great, Alex thought.

Something strange was happening, a part of her thought. This doesn’t really make sense. I’m so gay, yet I’m thinking about some distracting activities with the guy who’s buying me drinks.

“So, Alex, how’s that scotch tasting?” he asked her, putting his hand on her lower back.  
“Very good,” she answered, successfully shutting up the doubts in her head. After all, she had been so certain of Maggie, and she had also been so wrong?  
“Want to go to the bathroom with me?” she asked Max, who’s grin nearly broke his face.

***SANVERS***

Maggie had been to six bars already, showing Alex’ picture. So far, no luck.  
How many bars can be in one stupid town? Maggie asked herself.

She was about to give up and call Kara to call the police, when she noticed a familiar bike outside of a dive bar. Alex had shown her a picture of it on her phone, the night of the fundraiser.  
Almost jumping for joy, Maggie hurried inside the bar, almost crashing into someone on their way out.

“Oh I’m sorry,” she apologised. “Didn’t see you there.”  
“No problem, Sawyer,” she heard, and she looked up at the man she had ran into.  
“Lord,” she said, “what are you doing here?”  
“I had a nice drink with a mutual friend,” he said nonchalantly, “have a nice evening, Sawyer.”

Maggie didn’t like his grin one bit and hurried inside.

***SANVERS***

The tiles felt cold.

Wait, how come she could feel the cold of the floor?

Everything was confusing.

She was so certain she wanted something of Max, the distraction, yet when they started, she hadn’t been so sure anymore. And when she tried to tell him to stop, he didn’t.

Why was her stomach in knots right now?

“Alex!” she heard, before she rushed herself over the toilet bowl and threw up.

***SANVERS***

The sight of Alex throwing up broke Maggie’s heart. She would kill Max, that was for sure.  
Alex’ pants were lying discarded on the ground, her knickers torn apart right next to them. Maggie took off her jacket, and laid it across from Alex’ lower back, to cover her up a little bit.

The only thing she could now do is softly stroke the other woman on her back and hold her hair while she emptied her stomach.

Maggie had seen enough during her time at the NCPD to figure out what had happened. She was seething, yet her heart was bleeding for the other woman.

“Alex, what happened?” she asked again when Alex finally sat back down.  
“Me and Max… I was so angry at you… So hurt…”  
It felt like a kick in the gut, hearing the doctor point out how much Maggie had hurt her.  
“Did he… Alex, did he rape you?” she forced herself to ask.  
“It was consensual, I started it,” the other woman said. “I don’t, I don’t feel so good,” she mumbled, before passing out.

Maggie could barely catch her, before she hit the floor. She laid the other woman’s head down against her shoulder and pulled out her phone.

“Kara? It’s Maggie. Something happened to Alex. Can you call your DEO friends to come and pick her up? … Yes, I know of the DEO… Alex told me… No Kara, we can’t trust the cops on this one… Please, Kara, just hurry. Let them track this phone.... I won’t leave her side.”

Hanging up, Maggie sighed and leaned back against the stall. Alex’ words rang inside her head. Something was off, and she’d be damned if she wouldn’t find out what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this happened.   
> It might be confusing to most of you, but I promise it'll all be explained later on. Be ready for some angst to come!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: mention of rape, mention of rapedrugs.
> 
> What an amazing comments! I loved them! They all made me smile. Keep them coming!
> 
> To answer someone's question: in this fic, Kara has no powers and isn't an alien. She is the adoptive sister of Alex, and because of her RP, her other senses are more developped. I have a friend who had RP, and they can hear so much more than we can, it's amazing. I may have exaggerated her skills a bit, for the fic.
> 
> A short chapter, but I couldn't leave you guys hanging for another day after my cliffhanger yesterday.  
> Enjoy!

Maggie was pacing up and down in front of the door of Alex’ room.  
The doctor was lying on a bed, IV’s running and some machines were beeping.

She had to give it to whoever it was Alex used to work for: they had arrived within the next five minutes (the longest five minutes in Maggie’s life). They had rushed her off, towards this top secret facility. It had taken the detective two hours of pleading and bargaining and another two signing non-disclosure papers before she was finally taken to Alex.

It was hard seeing the doctor like this. They had told her they had taken her blood and had run all kinds of diagnostic tests, to see what was going on. Now she was under the influence of a strong sedative, one that couldn’t hurt in combination with what she had been given.

Because on that, Maggie had been right. Alex was drugged, roofied as people call it. Only, this type of roofie was not the one regularly used. The scientist said that if they had been a few hours later with taking the tests, they wouldn’t have noticed it in her blood.

That scared Maggie. Someone was drugging and raping women, and none of them would ever been able to prove that they had been drugged.

She looked inside again, at the sleeping woman. She looked so innocent right now, unhurt by the evil of the world. Maggie already dreaded the moment she would wake up, remembering everything that had happened (or a very blurry version of it). She couldn’t help but to feel guilty, because Alex had told her she had been hurt by her and that was why she had decided to go out drinking.

It was stupid, she knew that, because she hadn’t raped her, but still, the guilt was eating away at her.

“Detective Sawyer?” someone asked.  
“Yes?” Maggie turned around.  
In front of her stood Kara, next to a pretty woman Maggie had often seen in court cases. Lucy Lane.  
“Maggie, this is my friend Lucy. She promised to help catch whoever did this,” Kara said, her voice sounding very fragile. “Lucy, this is Maggie. She’s a friend of Alex’ and works with her at the precinct.”  
“Nice to meet you, detective,” Lucy nodded.  
“Please, Maggie,” the other woman answered. “Is there anywhere we can talk?”  
“Sure,” the prosecutor nodded. “Kara, are you okay to stay with Alex? It’ll help is she has family with her when she wakes up.”  
Kara nodded and Lucy led her to the chair next to Alex’ bed.

“Let’s go,” she said when she walked back out in the hallway.

Maggie followed the other woman into an empty room, soon followed by a tall black man with a very scary look on his face and Eliza Danvers.  
“Eliza, I’m so sorry,” Maggie started, but the older woman interrupted her.  
“I don’t blame you for what happened,” she said. “Apparently only you do.”  
Maggie nodded, not sure how to respond.  
“This is J’onn, he runs this place,” Eliza continued. “You have already met Lucy. We’re just waiting on Winn to start this meeting.”

Somehow talking to Lucy had turned into a meeting at a top secret black ops headquarter. It all went a little fast for Maggie to wrap her head around, so she was happy to see another familiar face entering the room.

“Sorry I’m late,” Winn said. “I had a few more things to check.”  
“It’s okay, Winn,” the man called J’onn said. “Detective Sawyer, care to fill us in?”  
Maggie nodded and started explaining:  
“Alex told me about your findings and I told her she’d need backup if she’d go to those bars to ask questions. The wrong people could notice her asking around and want to do her harm. Safe to say I didn’t know her combat skills when I asked her that,” she added, causing J’onn to grin. “We asked around in three of the bars on that strip, but got nothing. Then we decided to take a break and played a game of pool, or three.”  
“Alex hustled you, more like it,” Winn laughed, despite the seriousness of the situation.  
“Yes, something like that,” Maggie admitted. “Two guys thought they were interesting and couldn’t take no for an answer, long story short Alex kicked six guys’ asses and we left.”  
For the next part of her story, she didn’t really want to share it with almost strangers, especially one of them being Alex’ mom.  
“I don’t want to go into details, but me and Alex, we had a fight and I left. I guessed she would call Kara to talk about it, or something like that, but then a few hours later I got a call from Kara to ask me if I’d have seen Alex. She told me her phone was off, so I immediately thought she would have gone to continue our inquiry. I went to the strip and checked all the bars, when I noticed Alex’ bike outside one of the last places to check. On my way in, I ran into my partner, Maxwell Lord, and he talked about Alex, about them having a drink and he left. I found her throwing up in a bathroom stall, her pants thrown away and her underwear ripped. She claimed it was consensual, but I sincerely doubt that.”  
“It has been confirmed that Alex was drugged and raped,” Lucy said, the room staying quiet for a minute to progress it all.”  
“You think your partner did it,” J’onn stated more than asked.  
Maggie nodded.  
“The problem is, we can’t prosecute him on it,” Lucy said. “Everyone in that bar has heard Alex invite Max into the bathroom, so it looked consensual. And Alex herself claimed it was consensual as well.”  
“So I have to work with that rapist without saying anything?” Maggie asked in disbelief.  
“I’m afraid that’s all we can do right now,” J’onn said. “Trust me, I’d love to use every torture technique I know on him and invent a few new ones, but for now, he walks.”  
His voice permitted no contradiction.

“Maybe I’ve discovered something we can use,” Winn said, successfully gaining everyone’s attention.  
“Talk,” J’onn ordered, and so he did.


	18. Chapter 18

“After I heard what’d happened to Alex,” Winn started, “I couldn’t just sit by waiting, I needed something to do. So I checked the traffic cam pointing at the entrance of that dive bar they found Alex. I saw her going in, and I ran a face recognition program on everyone who entered the bar or left after Alex did. It gave me a list of names, but the one person who stood out most, was Maxwell Lord. I mean, now I know he’s the bastard who hurt Alex, but…”  
“Winn, you’re rambling,” J’onn pointed out.”  
“Oh, sorry. Right, where was I? Yes, Maxwell Lord. He stood out because it looked like he knew exactly where the camera was. The program noticed him when he walked out, but only when Maggie ran into him, for a split second. Enough for the program to recognise him, but for the human eye, way too fast to do that.”  
“You have a program that recognizes people that fast?” Maggie wondered out loud.  
“Yes, I wrote that,” Winn said, a faint blush appearing on his face. “But back to Lord. I ran a background check on him, and as to be expected, squeaky clean. That was even more suspicious.”  
“He’s checked by the NCPD, before he could even start working there. Of course he’s clean. Why is that suspicious?” Maggie asked.  
“Because my background check includes a full internet history review, of his personal and professional computer. Now, there is a myth, that if you delete something you once typed on an online platform, it will be untraceable, it will be gone forever. It is however a myth, like the existence of Santa. Everything you do online leaves a digital footprint. Maxwell Lord left none, not even a search for takeout or the phone number of a plumber. That’s so highly unlikely to happen, it almost always means that they have another way of going online.”  
“His smartphone?” Lucy asked.  
“Clean as well,” Winn said.  
“Do I dare ask how you get to that information?” Maggie asked.  
“Just doing his job,” J’onn answered instead of Winn.  
“Not that I’m not grateful for you finding this, but I’m not sure how this will help with what happened with Alex,” Eliza said.  
“We all know we’re never getting Maxwell Lord on a rape charge,” Winn said, “but now we have somewhere we can start.”  
“You mean to avenge Alex,” J’onn said. “You know that’s not what the DEO does, Winn.”  
The younger man’s shoulders dropped.  
“But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give it a try,” the black man continued, and a smile appeared on everyone’s face.  
“Detective Sawyer, I’m afraid this investigation will require some time. It means it requires you to be patient as well. It is of the utmost importance Mister Lord doesn’t know we are onto him.”  
“I understand,” Maggie nodded, already dreading seeing her partner in the morning. “Do you mind if I go check on Alex before I go home?”  
The rest of the people in the room shook their heads.  
“I’ll walk you,” Winn said and he started off after the detective.

***SANVERS***

It was a soft sobbing sound that woke Alex up. She refused to open her eyes, not yet, enjoying the last few moments of peace and quiet before all hell would break loose.  
She knew her family, she knew how they would react to this. They would want someone to blame, but not that that person was Alex. She blamed herself though.  
It had been her fault everything happened. She had started it. A part of her wanted to blame Maggie, for leading her on, for breaking her heart. How does anyone break someone’s heart in just a week’s worth of time?  
But Alex knew she couldn’t blame the other woman for what had happened. She hadn’t told her to go to that bar and drink to much, or to enjoy Lord’s advances. That had been her own doing.

“Alex? Are you awake?” she heard her sister ask, already knowing the answer.  
She opened her eyes and noticed the younger woman by her bedside.  
“I am,” she answered, and her voice sounded hoarse.  
“Here, something to drink,” Kara offered her a glass of water.  
“Thank you,” Alex happily drank little sips, noticing how much her throat hurted.  
“You threw up quite a lot,” her sister offered an explanation. “When Maggie found you.”  
“I remember,” the older woman answered, remembering all too well the events of the past evening. “Where is she?”  
“Lucy whisked her away, for some meeting with J’onn, I suppose. I wanted to be here when you woke up.”  
“Haven’t you heard anything they said?” Alex asked.  
Kara answered by laughing out loud.  
“Alex, I may have enhanced hearing abilities, but I can’t hear through entire buildings,” she laughed, leaving her older sister no other option than to laugh as well.

***SANVERS***

“Special phone, DEO stuff only, got it,” Maggie said, after Winn had handed her a new phone.   
“It’s important, Maggie,” Winn stressed. “No one can know what we do here. If people knew, we wouldn’t be able to help so many people.”  
Maggie stopped to turn around and grab the tech guy by his shoulders.  
“I understand, Winn. I mean that. I’m glad you guys trust me enough to let me in on this.”  
“Alex trusts you, that’s enough for us,” Winn shrugged.   
He turned around and walked back the other way.

Maggie shook her head and continued her walk towards where Alex would be sleeping. She hoped the woman would be awake, so she could talk to her, even though she had no clue of what she would tell her. The truth, probably, but how do you tell someone they’ve been drugged and taken advantage of? Especially such a strong person as Alex, who’s probably still blaming herself.

“Maggie,” she heard Kara say, long before she had reached the door. “Come on in, she’s awake.”  
The detective quickened her pace and hurried to Alex’ side, grabbing a hold of her hand. The other woman let her for a second, but then pulled her hand away.  
“Alex, I’m so glad you’re awake,” Maggie started, nervous because of the other woman’s reaction. Then she noticed she wasn’t holding Kara’s hand either, even though the sisters used to do that a lot. “How are you feeling?”  
“I’m alright,” she heard Alex lying, but her eyes betrayed her. Tears were ready to fall, and the doctor eyed her sister.  
“Kara, Winn asked me to sent you to him, so he could fill you in on the meeting,” Maggie quickly made up.  
“I can hear you lying,” the younger sister said, “if you want time alone with Alex, you should’ve just asked.”  
“I’m sorry, Little Danvers,” Maggie said, guilt obvious in her voice. “Can I borrow your sister for a minute? I promise I won’t be long.”  
Kara got up and grabbed Maggie’s wrist for a second, a reassuring way of telling her it was okay.  
“I’m due a bathroom break anyway,” she said, “I’ll go find a doctor to let them know you’re awake.”

With that Kara left, surprisingly without any trouble of finding her way.  
“She’s been here so often, she knows her ways by heart,” Alex explained, as she noticed the detective look.  
“I’m sorry, I’m still getting used to the idea,” Maggie said, looking back at the woman laying in the bed. “Now how are you really feeling?”  
“Like shit,” Alex admitted. “I remember everything so clearly, yet so hazy at the same time. I wish I didn’t remember though.”  
Maggie knew better than to take a hold of Alex’ hand to comfort her, so she just nodded.  
“I understand. You were drugged, Alex. A Roofie, but one that is so sophisticated that had we tested your blood a few hours later, there would’ve been no trace of it.”  
“Someone spiked my drink?” Alex asked, surprised.  
“We both know who did,” Maggie reprimanded her, but Alex shook her head.   
“It could’ve been anyone,” she protested.  
“I’ll prove it to you, in due time. Now it is important that Lord doesn’t figure out we know about the drugs, so J’onn can do his thing and we can catch the bastard.”  
“I still don’t want to blame him without any proof,” Alex shook her head. “He tried to hit on me, like he has done many times before, and because of the drugs, I agreed. That’s it for now. Proof to me he has done it, and I’ll take him down so hard, he won’t even know what’s coming for him.”  
“If that’s how you see it, that’s a deal I’ll take. But please stop blaming yourself, Alex. There’s no way you could’ve known that drink was spiked,” Maggie almost pleaded.  
“Me, a former Special Agent, who was trained to perfection, should have seen it. I was trained to do it, damn it,” Alex got angry and started yelling. “I should’ve seen who was doing what, and I should’ve been asking questions, but I wasn’t, because you broke my heart.”

That one hurt, Maggie thought. Right in the feels. Because it was probably true.  
“Alex, right now, it is not a good idea for me to be in a relationship,” she started, but she got interrupted by the detective.  
“Oh, now we’re doing the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’-speech, aren’t we?” she spat at the other woman.  
“I can be your friend,” Maggie offered, trying to save what was left to save.  
“Friends then,” Alex sighed, but looked the other way.

That was the moment Kara choose to re-enter the room.  
“I’d better get going,” Maggie said and left, looking one last time at the woman who had stolen her heart, whether she had allowed her to or not.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm horribly behind on my word count, which only means there is a mass of chapters coming your way soon, when I try to catch up!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

It was cold and dark, down at the DEO.

Alex had slept here often, recovering from an injury endured on one of her many missions, or taking a quick nap when working an all nighter on a case.  
But it was the first time she slept here since she had left the DEO.

She still wondered who had called J’onn. Her guess was Kara, but she had a feeling Maggie had something to do with it as well. Alex didn’t know how she felt about that, seeing how their relationship had developed in the last 24 hours.   
She also didn’t know how she felt about seeing the woman again at work tomorrow.

It had taken quite some time to convince the doctors of the DEO to let her go home and back to work. They had compromised on observing her through the rest of the night, to see if the altered drugs wouldn’t cause any side effects. Being a doctor herself and understanding the risks, Alex had taken that deal.

She didn’t know how she would react to seeing Maggie at work. Alex knew all she wanted to do was kiss the other woman, but the latina had been very obvious she didn’t want anything like that with Alex.   
Friends. The word had never sounded so hurtful before.

Trying to distract her thoughts from one very hot detective, Alex thought about the work she would have to do at the morgue. No doubt more casualties would’ve fallen, since the city never slept and neither did the criminals. She would have to find causes of death and report back to the other detectives of the NCPD, giving herself a break from the Jane Doe case. It wouldn’t, however, give her a break from being at the Homicide Division’s floor. She still had to report to Sergeant Detective Lane, which she had postponed long enough. 

She was already dreading that talk, he would definitely not like her going out there asking questions without him knowing. He would even like less that she had taken one of his detectives with her on such an obviously dangerous mission. Alex could only hope the news of the barfight and the drugging hadn’t gotten to him yet.

Still, she was pretty sure the old Lane had a soft spot for her, and would forgive her eventually after giving her an earful. He would keep everything to himself, trusting her judgement on only telling Sawyer. He would give her the time to prove what needed to be proven, that there was a mol in his precinct.

Another she dreaded, but the main reason she was getting back tomorrow, was Detective Maxwell Lord. She wanted to hurt him so bad, because he had taken advantage of her while she was drugged. Alex had meant what she had told Maggie, she needed proof before she would blame him for drugging her, but he must’ve noticed her slightly off behaviour and even if he had assumed she was simply drunk, he had taken advantage of her. The entire world knew how gay Alex was and how she would never sleep with a man, so he must’ve known something was off.   
Not that she intended to have this conversation with him. It would only painfully confirm what she already knew, that she had slept with one of the most disgusting human beings walking this very earth. Something she wasn’t proud of, not at all.

The fact that someone had been able to drug her, bothered her. She should’ve seen someone slip something in her drink, even after those couple of scotches she already had. There was no way Alex hadn’t noticed it, she could do that with her eyes closed.

No, there had to be some other explanation.

One of the DEO doctor’s walked in, checked Alex’ vitals and left again. Alex closed her eyes and tried to focus on something that would calm her thoughts, so she would be able to fall asleep and rest for the day to come.

Right before she dozed off, she could swear she felt a familiar pressing of a nose against the side of her neck.

***SANVERS***

Maggie had gotten up even earlier than usual, to be able to for a run before work. She would need it, to clear her mind and to get a grip on her emotions. It wouldn’t look well if she’d punch her partner in the face five minutes after entering the building.

No, she couldn’t do that. She had promised J’onn she wouldn’t do that, for the sake of the case. And she was certain Alex would have her ass if she’d try to do something so gallant as defending her honour after downgrading her to friend not even 12 hours ago.

Maggie needed focus, and that was exactly what she got from that run. She channeled all her frustration and anger into her legs and feet, and kept the drive to want to solve this.

Millions of questions ran through her mind while she was getting ready after a quick shower. Did Lane knew about their little mission? Had Alex even told him about the findings of the DEO? How much did the old man know about Alex’ past? How would they be able to solve the case without letting Max in on their progress? Would Alex still want to work together?

She heard her phone go off, signaling an incoming text message. It was still in her jacket pocket, so she hurried over to her front door to grab it. It was the phone Winn had given her the day before.

If you’re really my friend, act like last night never happened. Please.

There was no doubt in Maggie’s mind as to who had sent her that message.

Alex.

That would mean the doctor was coming into work this morning.   
It probably also meant keeping up the dating act, Maggie supposed.

She shook her head and walked back inside her apartment to finish getting ready.

***SANVERS***

To say Alex was nervous as she entered the precinct, would be an understatement.

She knew Lord could be an ass, so she wondered how much he would gloat about his latest conquest. Had he told the rest of the guys? Would he come visit her to rub it into her face?

All she knew was that she wouldn’t take it lying down.

“Danvers,” she heard, and she turned around to see who had called her name.  
“Maggie,” she said, suppressing the urge to smile. Why did she feel the urge to smile when the woman had hurt her so badly?  
“Come here,” the latina said and pulled her into a hug. “Got your text. We’re good,” she whispered in Alex’ ear.  
Her body really wasn’t listening to her head today, sending a shiver down her spine when she felt the hot breath tickling her ear.  
“I need to see Lane,” Alex said. “Walk with me?”  
“Of course,” Maggie smiled.  
Argh, those dimples.

It calmed Alex down, feeling the proximity of the detective, as they walked up the stairs together. She wondered how it could be possible the other woman didn’t feel it, the obvious connection between the two of them.

It was Maggie who pulled her out of those thoughts, by squeezing her arm for a second.  
“You okay?” was all she asked.  
Alex took a deep breath and nodded.  
“You?”  
Maggie nodded as well.  
“Then let’s do this,” Alex said determined, before they walked onto the Homicide Unit’s floor.


	20. Chapter 20

“Hey Sawyer, how did your girlfriend like the big D?” Maggie heard the second they walked into the desk area.  
She didn’t know what she had expected, but definitely not this. Was he looking for a fight in front of the entire Homicide Unit?  
“Not so much, I heard,” she simply said, trying not to fall for his obvious attempt to piss her off.  
“Wasn’t that big either,” Alex backed her up, indicating a small thing with her fingers.  
The other detectives started laughing, and it pissed Max off. He walked over to where the two women were standing, next to Maggie’s desk.  
“Aren’t you angry than, for your girlfriend cheated on you last night. With me,” he hissed.  
“We hadn’t really talked about being exclusive yet,” Maggie shrugged. “I can’t blame her for doing something she was allowed to do.”  
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Alex said, when she must’ve noticed Max forming a fist with his right hand. “That’s misconduct, you could get suspended for it.”  
Maggie had noticed it as well, but opted not to respond to it. Alex had this covered.  
“You’ll regret this,” Max yelled, before stomping over to the coffee machine.  
“Wish you had warned me about that last night,” Alex yelled after him, before joining Maggie in laughter.

“Nice one, Danvers,” she smiled. “He really thought he would be able to gloat about it, didn’t he.”  
“Stupid thing to assume,” Alex shrugged. “Now let me make clear to everyone who I really belong to, so this stupid tug-of-war between you two can finally stop.”  
Before Maggie could respond she didn’t see Alex as some thing she could possess, she felt soft lips press against her own.

“Danvers, Sawyer, stop that immediately,” the voice of Sergeant Detective Lane rang through the room.  
“Yes sir,” both women immediately responded.  
“Do you have a minute, sir?” Alex asked, to which the old Lane signaled her to follow him.  
“I’ll bring you lunch,” Maggie promised, before her fake girlfriend hurried after their superior officer.

***SANVERS***

“What did you want to talk to me about, Doctor Danvers?” Sergeant Detective Lane asked while hanging up his coat on the coat rack next to his door.  
“I wanted to give you an update on the Jane Doe case,” Alex said.  
“Close the door and sit down.”

Alex did as she was told.  
“The DEO were able to locate the area where our Jane Doe was killed,” she started with the good news. “It’s a strip with a couple of bars, so me and Detective Sawyer went over there to ask around about our missing girl.”  
“Without my permission?” the Sergeant Detective spoke sternly.  
“I’m sorry about that, sir. I think my training took over and I yearned to get back out in the field,” Alex bowed her head.  
“Good thing you brought Detective Sawyer as your backup, but I would’ve preferred you taking more man to organise an inquiry.”  
“That’s the thing, sir, I talked to J’onn about this as well and he also thinks there’s someone inside the precinct involved in this. I would feel much more comfortable if the DEO would take part in the investigation, and we would keep this between ourselves. As far as the other detectives are concerned, they don’t even know we have gotten a new lead. And I would like to keep it that way.”  
“You trust Sawyer, though,” Sergeant Detective Lane pointed out. “Why her?”  
“I just know she can be trusted, sir.”  
“Objectively speaking? Or because you two have something going on?” the old man raised an eyebrow.  
“I’ve been trained to keep my emotions out of the equation, sir.”  
“Okay, I’ll trust your judgement, Doctor Danvers. You have until next week’s Friday to find me prove that someone inside this precinct is involved in Jane Doe’s murder.”  
“Thank you, sir,” Alex said, and she rose.  
“Oh and Doctor Danvers?” he called after her, before she could open the door to leave. “What I saw when I came in, leave it for outside of this building.”  
“Yes sir,” Alex said and she had the decency to blush.

She threw Maggie a smile when she passed her, but then hurried to her office. She needed a place to think, to get her thoughts straight again.

Lucky for her, there was an empty morgue waiting for her when she arrived. She locked herself into her office and told her assistant she would be doing paperwork all morning and to not disturb her if it wasn’t urgent.

A fresh cup of coffee in hand, Alex sat down behind her desk.  
Everything was so messed up. She knew Maggie was just pulling off the act, like she had asked her to herself, but it still felt so real. It felt so good, hearing the other woman defending her, but giving her the space to defend herself when she didn’t need any help. Alex was a hundred percent certain that they belonged together, she could feel it, but why couldn’t Maggie?  
There was something Lane said, that irked her. Did she trust Maggie for the right reasons? Was she really keeping her feelings out of this? Could the detective have been playing this, was she working together with her partner to gain Alex’ trust and get the info they needed? Get inside the DEO? Was Alex walking into a trap, eyes wide open?  
No, she shook her head, Maggie might be confused about her feelings for me, or I might be confused about how she feels about me, but there’s no way that woman would’ve let someone drug and rape me just to gain trust when I already had confided in her. She wouldn’t let anyone get drugged and raped, period. The terror on her face last night had been evident.

Still, Alex chastised herself, she had been letting her personal feelings inside this case, and she shouldn’t have. From now on, she would be more careful who to trust.

Her DEO phone rang.  
“Danvers?”  
“Danvers, it’s J’onn. How did your talk with Lane go? Is he still on board?”  
“He is, we’ve gotten until next Friday to prove to him that the NCPD has a mol.”  
“And Detective Lord?”  
“That situation is under control.”  
“Good,” he said, “I knew I could trust the two of you to be able to handle it. I’ll let you know when we got something. Oh and Alex?”  
“Yes?”  
“Glad to have you back.”  
“I’m not... “ Alex started, but the line got disconnected.

She had to admit, getting back out there, even though it wasn’t that long ago she was still Special Agent Danvers, she had definitely missed it. That bar fight had gotten her blood racing again, as it used to. She still couldn’t phantom how anyone could’ve drugged her, she may have been distracted, but she was trained to spot things even when distracted. There had to be an explanation for it.

“Uhm, Doctor Danvers?” she heard from the other side of her door, the voice hesitant.  
“Come in,” she said.  
“I know you told me not to disturb you, but I think this is something you should see.”  
Alex nodded and got up. 

It was total chaos in the lab. There were already seven body bags inside, and people were still bringing fresh ones in.  
“Doctor Danvers?” one of the man asked.  
“That would be me,” she confirmed.  
“I’ve been told to give this to you.”  
He handed her a small envelope, which Alex opened immediately.

Train crash. One of my sources told me it would happen, to cover up a murder. Help me? - Luce

“She so owes me,” Alex murmured and started to instruct the people around her how to get all the bodies to their respective places.


	21. Chapter 21

“What’s all this?” Maggie asked surprised, when she entered the morgue. All four slabs had bodies on top of them, and on every fridge door, a label hung to identify the body inside.  
Alex was standing next to one of her slabs, cutting open a fresh but mutilated body.

“A debt that needed to be settled,” the doctor said. “A train crashed earlier today, and I have to get a name and a cause of death for all of the thirtyseven casualties.”  
“Damn, that sounds like a lot of work,” the detective whistled. “Do you have time for lunch? I brought lasagna?”  
“My favorite,” Alex smiled and put down her tools. “My office?”  
Maggie nodded, eager to get out away from those bodies.

“You know, for a homicide detective, you’re very uncomfortable around dead bodies,” Alex teased, while they were eating.  
“I usually don’t have to be around them that often, just see them once on the scene and then on the crime scene photos,” Maggie defended herself.  
“What a sacrifice you make to come and see me here, then,” Alex said grinning, the flirting stronger than her self control.  
“Alex,” Maggie sighed.  
“Sorry,” she looked back down at her lasagna.  
“I didn’t mean it like that, Alex. I just don’t want you to get confused and hurt again, that’s all,” Maggie said.  
“I can take care of myself, thank you,” Alex bit back.  
“I know you can,” the detective said, and Alex had a hard time staying angry at her when she was looking at her like that.

“How did your talk with Lane go?” Maggie asked her, changing the subject.  
“Good, he was a little thrown off by our initiative, but he has given us until next Friday to prove to him that there’s a mol in the precinct.”  
“That’s eight days, it should be doable to have something by then,” the detective said.  
“I hope so. I trust the DEO, but it bothers me that I can’t do anything to help. I’ll be here identifying bodies all weekend,” Alex sighed.  
“Then let me help?” Maggie offered.  
“At the DEO?” Alex asked surprised.  
“No here, with the bodies,” the detective clarified.  
Now Alex was even more confused.  
“But you hate being around dead bodies,” she pointed out.  
“I’ll suck it up,” Maggie shrugged. “Besides, I can always look at you to feel a little better,” she smiled.

Oh god, there were those dimples again, Alex thought. Wait, was she just flirting with me?

The realisation dawned on the detective as well, because she blushed and looked away.

“I’ll come back when I’ve finished up upstairs,” she said. “Then I’ll be yours all weekend.”

Again, a realisation about what she had just said dawned on the detective, and she made quick excuses and left in a hurry.

***SANVERS***

What am I doing? Maggie thought to herself while she was climbing the stairs.   
She had been flirting with Alex, without even thinking about it. She was making everything more complicated, when it had supposed to be a friendly offer.  
Friends. That was what they were supposed to be. Just friends.  
It wasn’t fair to Alex, how she had just behaved herself. She would have to be careful not to do it again, this weekend. The woman had been through so much already, she didn’t need any of Maggie’s indecisiveness on top of that.

She needed to distract herself by doing what she did best: she’d detect. Maggie thought about the missing person’s file she couldn’t find. Alex had known from the beginning she wouldn’t be able to find one. In her theory, if someone would be in on this from the inside, they would have gotten rid of the report right after it had been filed. That meant someone had filed a report, an officer had written it all down, and the mol had known about it and had gotten rid of it.

There had to be a way she could find out who it was.

Of course, she suddenly realised, there’s a camera pointed at the front desk and one at the entrance. She should look at the footage of those cameras, to find out when exactly that missing person’s file would have been filled out.

Back at her desk, Maggie ignored the dirty looks Max had been given her all day already. He really didn’t take his loss well, she thought. Grabbing a hold of the closest pile of missing person’s files, she started listing each date and time that was noted on top of the files.  
“Haven’t you already checked all of those?” Max asked, curious about his partner’s behaviour.  
“Maybe I’ve missed something,” Maggie deflected his question. “Don’t you have your own investigating to do?”  
“We’ve been through those files three times already. I’m calling it quits, there’s no way we’ll find her in there the fourth time around. But please, feel free to look at them again, I wish you the best of luck,” he said, got up and walked away.

Perfect, Maggie thought, he won’t be asking me about the case then either, if he has already determined it a cold case.

It took her a few hours to list every date and time, for the amount of files was depressing. By then the room started to empty out, people taking an early start on their weekends. For Maggie it proved to be the perfect opportunity to check out the security camera footage she needed, without anyone asking questions.

Instead of returning to her desk, she found herself walking towards the morgue.

“Can I use your office?” she asked Alex when she walked inside. “I have a hunch, but I can’t be looking at these when other people might see it,” she explained, holding up the dvd which contained the footage.  
“Sure, make yourself at home,” the doctor said, not even looking up from her dead body. “There’s leftover lasagna in the fridge if you want. You left in such a hurry after lunch, you forgot it.”  
“Thanks,” Maggie said, and felt her cheeks grow hotter. “I’ll be in there if you need me,” she said and hurried inside the office.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last one for today. Let me know what you think!

“I need food. Pizza?” Alex sighed when she barged into her office and dropped down on the couch she had exactly for that purpose.  
Maggie looked up from her computer and couldn’t help but smile at the sight.  
“I’ll put in the order,” she said, still smiling. “How many have you gotten done so far?”  
“Four identified and another three causes of death. All my computers are running tests non-stop, but they got backed up with me putting in new tests, so I have a little bit of time before I have to get back inside.”  
“I can take a break as well, if you’d like,” Maggie offered, suddenly hyper aware of her situation and the fact she would be spending the entire weekend with the woman she felt so attracted to yet confused her so. “On second thought, I’ve been sitting at this desk for the past three hours, I could use a walk. Do you want to go eat a pizza somewhere? I know this great Italian place nearby.”  
Great hole you are digging for yourself there, Mags.  
“Sure, why not,” Alex said, “It’s not like those tests can’t run themselves while I’m gone.”  
“Great,” Maggie smiled, trying to hide her anxiousness. “We can go on foot.”  
“Just let me change out of my labcoat and I’ll be all yours,” the doctor said, having no clue how her words affected the detective.

It was hard not to stare at Alex, and the reason wasn’t how she was wolfing down that pizza. Maggie enjoyed seeing the woman so engrossed in something, yet every time someone entered or moved, she knew the former special agent must’ve seen it.  
Which meant she had probably also seen that she had been staring at her for the past fifteen minutes.  
Shit.

“Like what you see, detective?” Alex said, not even looking up from her pizza.  
“Very much,” Maggie heard herself say.  
Damn it, Mag, keep it together.  
The doctor looked up and studied her for a few seconds.  
“I really can’t figure you out,” she said. “But that’s okay, I like to be challenged.”  
What does she mean by that? Maggie wondered as the other woman got back to eating her pizza.

***SANVERS***

They had kept their break short, work waiting for them at the station. As they walked back, Alex felt the urge to grab the other woman’s hand. It was urge she could barely resist, resulting in the touching of the back of her hand against the other woman’s. While she was busy cursing herself for the lack of self control, she felt Maggie grab a hold of her hand. As she looked sideways, surprised, she noticed the other woman didn’t seem to notice her latest action, nor the turmoil she had caused inside of Alex. It took her brain a few seconds to catch up, but then she quickly released Alex’ hand, as if she got burned.

It hurt Alex, and it confused her even more. She had seen Maggie looking at her during dinner, the woman had been flirting with her all day and now this, yet all she wanted to be is friends. The feeling of rejection took over and Alex quickly thought of something to talk about, before she would be consumed by her own thoughts.

“So how did it go tolerating Lord all day?” she asked the first question that popped into her mind.  
“Doable, today at least. He felt so hurt by your comments this morning, he shut up about it afterwards. Kept throwing me dirty looks all day, but I can handle those. I just don’t trust him not to try to get back at us for making him look like a fool in front of the other detectives.”  
“I’m sure he won’t be able to really hurt you,” Alex said.  
“He already did,” Maggie said, “when he hurted you.”  
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Alex said honestly. “But I can handle what he has done, I’ll just need some time to put it all in perspective.”  
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Maggie said.  
“I know,” Alex smiled, and she meant it.

 

They walked the rest of the way in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Alex found that Maggie’s proximity sufficed to keep her thoughts silent for a little while.

***SANVERS***

When they returned to the morgue, Maggie hurried into the office, not wanting to see all those corpses longer than was absolutely necessary. She already dreaded having offered the doctor to help with them all.

“You know,” she heard Alex laugh behind her, “I intend to find you a way to help me, while staying in my office. I wouldn’t want you to throw up onto evidence.”  
Maggie felt heat creep up her cheeks, but also relief flood her body.  
She turned around and faced the doctor when she said: “Thank you.”  
“Always,” Alex answered and put her lab coat back on before leaving the office.

A few hours later, Maggie had found three moments when a missing person’s report had been filed, but it wasn’t on her list. She failed to see a pattern though, and it was starting to frustrate her. She decided to call in a new set of eyes for help.

“Alex?” she asked, not wanting to disturb the doctor in her work.  
“Just a second,” Alex answered, focussing on extracting something from the body. It looked like an organ, and was carefully placed into scales hanging from the ceiling. The doctor wrote down something on the sheet of paper lying next to her, before looking up. “What’s up?”  
“I could use your opinion on something,” Maggie said, motioning for the doctor to follow her back inside the office. She sat back down on the office chair behind the desk, Alex standing closely behind her, looking at the screen of the computer.  
“Is that the front desk of the precinct?” she asked.  
“It is,” Maggie confirmed.  
“Brilliant,” the former special agent said, instantly figuring out what Maggie intended to do with them. “What did you find out?”  
“I found three instances of someone filing a missing person’s report, without having that report on my list. That means someone had made sure it went away. You were right, Alex,” she told the other woman. “This is bigger than our Jane Doe.”  
“We weren’t supposed to find her,” Alex said, more to herself than to the detective.  
Maggie could see why the doctor must’ve been such a great special agent.  
“You know you said that out loud, right?” a smirking Alex brought her back to the present.  
“Probably because it’s true,” Maggie tried to play it off, but her blush betrayed her. “So you were saying?” she tried to get the focus of the conversation away from her slip up and succeeded this time.  
“That we weren’t supposed to find her. I think she was mangled up, just in case, but it can’t be there have been so many Jane Doe cases in the last month without anyone noticing that they’re connected.”  
“You’re right about that,” Maggie agreed. “The problem is, I can’t seem to find a pattern in these incidents. It’s always a different officer at the front desk, and wouldn’t it be too risky for our mol to rely on the coincidence that he or she would be on reception duty when these missing person’s reports get filed?”  
“I agree, I don’t think the officer at the front desk is in on it either. There must be something these ones have in common… Have you checked all of the tapes yet?”  
“No, I haven’t gotten the time yet. It’s a lot of footage to go through…”  
“I have an idea,” Alex said, and she pulled out her phone.

“Winn, you’re on speaker. I’m here with Maggie,” Alex started as soon as she heard the sound the phone got picked up. Maggie added a “Hi Winn” to the greeting, before the other woman continued. “Maggie found something, but we’ll need your help. She couldn’t find the missing person’s report for our Jane Doe, no matter how far back she went. So she figured that someone had gotten rid of the report and started checking the tapes of the front desk of the precinct. Maggie has found three incidents already, that a missing person was reported, the file filled in, but nowhere to be found today. She hasn’t even checked all of the tapes yet, Winn.”  
“You want me to check the tapes? I’ll need a list of the dates and times when a report was filed and you have it in your possession.”  
“I’ll sent you a photo of those right now,” Maggie said and started taking pictures of her list. “Sent,” she added when she was done.  
“Okay, the footage I can get to myself. I’ll have more for you guys by Monday, I hope.”  
“Keep us posted,” Alex answered and ended the call.

“You know what that means, right?” Alex grinned. “You’re free to do whatever I ask you to do now.”  
Get your mind out of the gutter, Sawyer.  
Instead of turning all red again, she was able to keep her thoughts to herself this time.  
“What do you need me to do?”


	23. Chapter 23

Alex had kept her word. While she was busy in the morgue dissecting the dead bodies, Maggie got the honour to type out her reports and to run the identification program. It was pretty easy work, but it took a lot of time. Especially since Alex’ handwriting was impossible to read.

“Alex?” Maggie stepped into the morgue for the fifth time that evening. “Can you…”  
She froze.

Alex had just been taking of her sweater, and her shirt had been riding up with it. Made aware of the unexpected company, the doctor hurried to pull it back down immediately, but not before Maggie had been able to get a good look at those abs.

“They really trained you hard at the DEO, didn’t they?” the detective tried to ease the tension.  
“I still spar from time to time,” Alex shrugged. “It’s important to stay in shape, and it helps me clear my mind.”  
From the bar fight earlier that week, Maggie knew the doctor was downplaying it. Vivid memories passed before her eyes, until she was brought back to the present by a hand on her arm.  
“What did you come here to ask?” Alex asked her, suddenly so close Maggie could barely breathe.  
“I couldn’t read this part,” she pointed at a part of the doctor’s notes.  
“Me and my handwriting, eh,” Alex smiled, and butterflies suddenly appeared full force in Maggie’s stomach.  
“Yeah, uhm, need a bathroom break, be right back. Good luck deciphering that,” she made a quick escape.

Maggie locked herself into the bathroom stall, her breathing completely out of her control. Her mind and body were responding to everything that Alex was, her scent, her proximity, her abs, her brilliant mind…  
The denial that the detective had been forcing onto herself, was rapidly losing ground. Every cell in Maggie’s body wanted to be as close as possible to the other woman, it felt like a physical pull towards Alex every time she was near.

“I need to go home and sleep,” Maggie said to herself, still trying to enforce the denial. “It’s the sleep deprivation that’s talking, that’s influencing my self control.”

She kept talking to herself like that, until another person entered the women’s bathroom. Maggie waited for her to enter a stall before she got out of her own and went back to the morgue.

***SANVERS***

Alex was confused why Maggie had run away. Because it was very obvious the detective hadn’t been able to stand to be in the same room as her for another second.  
It hurt.   
Did Maggie see her as damaged goods now? Did she really misjudge the other woman’s feelings for her and did the detective dislike her that much?  
No, Alex shook her head, those doubts, those thoughts, they aren’t mine. I wasn’t wrong about Maggie having feelings for me, it is painfully clear that she is in denial.  
So why am I doubting myself so much?

“Any luck with that handwriting?” she heard Maggie enter the morgue again.  
“Yeah, I wrote it again next to it, in capital letters this time. The papers are back on my desk.”  
“Thanks,” the detective smiled, but it didn’t reach her dimples.

After a few seconds of just standing there in silence, Maggie spoke again.  
“Would it be okay for you if I’d called it a night?” she asked.  
“Of course, why not?” Alex answered. She couldn’t really read the other woman right now, and it made her insecure. “I would never keep you here against your will, Mags. I’m very grateful for your help, but you don’t have to stay here all night just because I am,” she shrugged and went back to the slab where the body laid she had been working on.  
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, Alex, I really don’t mind the work, I’m just very tired. I didn’t get any sleep last night…”  
“I’m sorry about that,” Alex said, not looking up.   
“No, Alex, I didn’t mean…” the other woman pleaded, but Alex interrupted her.   
“It’s okay, Maggie, go home, take a shower, sleep. If you feel bored tomorrow, you know where to find me, but please don’t feel obligated to come in to help me.”

Maggie seemed to understand that with that she was dismissed, because she went inside the office to grab her jacket and left.

***SANVERS***

Maggie felt like shit.  
The hurt in Alex’ eyes had been obvious, the rejection even more so.  
She had been trying to protect herself, and to protect the doctor from the disaster that would eventually come of being with her, but in the process she had hurt her even more. The dismission had been painfully clear, she couldn’t take the hurting anymore.

This isn’t fair to her, Maggie thought. She has been through so much lately, and selfish me puts her through even more. I can’t keep doing this to her, hurt her that much, all the time.

She got onto her bike and took off, determined to figure herself out, before she would come back to see the woman she already knew she loved (and it scared her to death).


	24. Chapter 24

Maggie had left, and now she was all alone. It had never bothered her to be alone, she did better work alone, but then what was that feeling gnawing in the back of her mind?

Shaking her head to clear away all of her thoughts, especially those involving the detective, Alex got back to work. There were so many bodies left to examine and she really wanted to be able to help catch the bastard that was involved in the murder of their Jane Doe. The fact that there was a cop involved, made her even more determined.

Sometime around midnight, a few hours after the detective had left her, Alex’ hand started shaking when she was making the typical Y-incision on her twelfth body that day. Putting down the scalpel and shaking her hands to get the blood flowing again, didn’t help, so Alex decided to call it a day on the autopsies. All of the work and the focussing had kept her quite busy, so she hadn’t really thought about anything else since.

Now that she had put down the scalpel, her mind seemed to think it was it’s turn again and thoughts started racing through her mind. Thoughts about the last night’s events, thoughts about Maggie, thoughts about Max, … It was as if a dam had burst, and there was no way Alex could stop those thoughts from coming.

In a final attempt to keep her sanity, the doctor grabbed her stack of notes (which was a rather high stack) and walked into her office. Maggie had helped her quite a lot by starting on the paperwork, but there were still a lot of notes waiting on her desk.  
Banning the memory of the detective helping her, Alex put down the pile of papers in her hands next to the first pile and waited until her computer was up and running again. She started the necessary programs back up and filled in the info her identification program needed to start their search.

Once the program was busy searching three different victim’s identities, Alex checked through all of the info the detective had already noted down. There had been three reports written already and two of the other victims had been identified. That still left a lot of paperwork to do for Alex, who silently started regretting that she had sent the other woman home.

No, she told herself while shaking her head, I can pull this off on my own. I don’t need anyone’s help.   
And with that thought in mind, she picked up the piece of paper on top of the first pile and started typing out her reports.

***SANVERS***

Maggie hadn’t driven home, instead opting to drive around a little to clear her head. Without realising it, she had driven to the place her and Alex had had a picnic the other day.   
After parking her bike, the detective walked over to the place they had been sitting. She remembered how easy everything had been, how unforced. Everything had still been right back then. It had been only yesterday, yet it felt like a lifetime ago.

Maggie sat down and started at the view. Alex had picked an amazing place, yet this is the first time the detective actually noticed the view someone had from up here. If she was completely honest with herself, all she’d had eyes for had been the other woman, being so strong and so honest. It had felt so right, when now everything was wrong.

Alex had been hurt by Maggie, causing her to go to that bar. It bothered her, because she felt partially to blame for what had happened the other night. If she hadn’t been such a scared little girl, feeling sorry for herself, she would have gone through with what she had started and they would have woken up together this morning. Maggie would have borrowed a shirt from Alex and started on breakfast, already very familiar with the need for caffeine the other woman had so early in the morning. Alex would’ve thrown on a shirt as well, and they would have had breakfast barefooted, before heading over to the precinct together. It could’ve been the start of something amazing, something so right, yet Maggie had been too scared to commit.

She had been hurt so many times before, but that couldn’t be an excuse for hurting Alex this much. And especially for not stopping with the hurting. Because today when she had ran away to the bathroom to find her bearings again, she had rejected the other woman for the second time and it must’ve hurt twice as much. Alex had done nothing wrong, she hadn’t flirted with Maggie, she hadn’t crossed any lines, she had simply acted as she would have around a friend. And it had been Maggie who had blurred the lines, had responded the way she did, and who had made everything complicated again.

Alex didn’t deserve that. She had been honest with Maggie, brutally honest if necessary, and she had trusted her. She had trusted her with her feelings, with her secrets, with her truths. And Maggie had kept her in the dark, about her insecurities, about her fears, about her feelings.

Why is it so hard for me to admit to myself that I love her? Maggie wondered. But by thinking that to herself, all the memories of all the times she had thought she had been in love came back flooding her mind. Every single time she had given her all, and every single time her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. There was no guarantee Alex wouldn’t do the same.

Then again, remembering how she had felt all of those times, Maggie realised that none of it compared to how Alex made her feel. She made her feel safe, appreciated, loved, cared for, warm inside, … The list went on, as Maggie started to see that those things she felt were thanks to Alex, and none of her exes had ever made her feel that way. Alex was special, and Maggie would be a fool to let someone like that get away from her. She had loved her unconditionally, and even when she was hurt, she had still respected the boundaries Maggie had asked for.

I’m such an idiot, Maggie thought, while she got back on her bike. I need to make this right.


	25. Chapter 25

Alex felt herself pushing her limits. No, not pushing them, she had passed them long since. Energy levels were depleting, she felt nauseous from hunger, yet she couldn’t bring herself to stop for a meal. Her fifth coffee stood next to the other empty cups, still warm, ready to push her heart rate up even more.   
Those reports weren’t coming along as quickly as she’d like. At this rate, she’d never be able to go back home for a shower and a few hours to sleep before starting again tomorrow morning. She still had four reports to go, and the clock showed her it was already half past five in the morning.

The tremor in her hands had gotten worse, probably because of all of the caffeine she had pumped into her system. Typing was starting to get difficult, and the letters on the screen were starting to lose focus.

Still, Alex didn’t want to stop. If she was being honest to herself, she didn’t want to stop because she was afraid of the thoughts that would come. The memories, but also the feelings she was trying so hard to suppress.

The longer Alex fought to remain focussed, the harder it got. Small memories slipped through the cracks of her fast built walls. The taste of whiskey on her tongue, rough hands pushing her against the cold tiles, a whiff of men’s perfume. Alex fought to get all those thoughts out her mind, and to keep them out, but the cracks were getting bigger and it didn’t take long for the tears to start falling.

Alex got up and crawled into a corner from her couch, her knees pulled up high against her chest. There was no way she would be able to keep the tears from falling now, so she let them come. And with them, she relived every second of that dreadful night in that bar’s bathroom. She started shivering uncontrollably, the panic attack seizing her completely while the tears kept rushing down her cheeks, wetting her pants and her sleeves.

After fighting for hours to keep it, Alex had now completely lost control. And that was how Maggie found her when she walked into the office half an hour later.  
All Alex remembered after that were two strong arms around her, a soft whispering voice telling her everything was going to be okay, and two lips pressed softly on top of her head, making her feel safe again.

***SANVERS***

It had been all Maggie could do to hold the doctor in her arms, trying to calm her down.   
Luckily it seemed to be working, since her breathing was starting to slow down and the tears had stopped coming.

“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered, unsure of what else to do. She fought the urge to kiss Alex on top of her head and lost.

She knew Alex wasn’t really present right now, the doctor had escaped to her safe place, but that was okay. She could sit here like this for much longer if it meant helping the other woman get back in control.

Maggie chastised herself for leaving Alex alone, again only thinking about herself, and not realising the doctor might better not be alone yet. She wondered how long the panic attack had been going on already before she had found her. They would have to go to see a doctor, but right now, the doctor was in no shape to be transported. Maggie was afraid to call an ambulance, since it would attract the attention of everyone and Max would find out. She couldn’t call the DEO either, Alex would never forgive her that. They would keep her in a hospital bed for days, keeping the doctor from solving the mystery of their Jane Doe murder. There was only one person she knew she could rely on to keep their secret but would be able to tell her what to do.

Trying not to disturb the zoned out woman in her arms, Maggie grabbed her cellphone from her back pocket.  
“Maggie? Do you know what time it?”  
“Little Danvers! I’m sorry to wake you, but it’s Alex. I just found her in her office having a panic attack.”  
“Oh my god, Alex! Is she alright?”  
“She’s calmed down, but I can’t seem to reach her. It doesn’t look like she hears what I’m saying, as if she’s somewhere else completely. I don’t know what to do.”  
“She probably stayed up late to solve some case,” Kara said, “trying to push away bad thoughts and tiring herself completely by doing that. Can you lay her down so she can get some sleep? And stay with her? I’ll call Winn in a couple of hours and we’ll come down there as fast as we can.”  
“I’ll lay her down on her couch and I’ll stay with her,” Maggie promised.   
“Thank you, Maggie,” Kara said. “Alex is lucky to have you. I’ll see you soon.”  
“See you soon, Little Danvers,” Maggie said, and disconnected the line.

***SANVERS***

Alex woke to soft whispers.  
At some point she had fallen asleep, an amazing, dreamless sleep. No nightmares, no more memories, just peaceful rest.

When she tried to move, she felt two arms around her. They were strong, and she remembered them holding her earlier when she was having a panic attack.   
She opened her eyes and noticed a sleeping Maggie holding her, probably sitting in the most uncomfortable position ever.

“Ah, you’re awake,” she heard, and she turned her head to face the person speaking.  
“Kara, Winn, what are you doing here?” she asked.   
“Maggie called me a few hours ago. She found you having a panic attack and she didn’t know what to do,” Kara explained. “I came as fast as I could, but it looks like she had everything under control.”  
“Kara and I were just discussing if we should wake you two or leave you asleep. You both look like you could use a good night’s sleep,” Winn said.  
“It’s been a stressful couple of days,” Alex shrugged.  
“Can we go talk somewhere?” Kara asked her older sister.  
“Sure, give me a sec,” Alex agreed, and tried to escape Maggie’s grip without waking up the other woman. “We can talk in the morgue, if that’s okay with you.”  
“I’m fine with that,” Kara said, even though Alex knew the smell of the disinfectants made her sister feel a little queasy.  
“I’m fine with staying here and watching the detective sleep,” Winn said.  
“That sounded creepy, Winn,” Kara pointed out.  
“Not as creepy as those dead bodies next door,” her best friend shrugged.  
“Let’s go,” Alex said, and lead the way.

“What did you want to talk about,” she asked her sister after she had closed the door to the office.  
“About you, Alex,” Kara said. “You’ve been through something so traumatic, and you’re here trying to drown yourself in work, just so you don’t have to think about it. It’s not healthy.”  
“It’s healthier than drinking it away,” Alex shrugged, not able to look her sister in the eye and see the worry she knew that was in them.  
“You had a panic attack,” Kara pointed out.  
Alex took a deep breath.  
“I’m fine, Kara,” she said and looked up at her sister.  
“No, you’re not,” the younger Danvers said, “but that’s okay, Alex. No one expects you to be perfectly fine after what happened, except for you.”  
“I’ll be fine,” Alex put in the nuance for her sister’s sake. “Maybe I pushed myself a little bit too much after such a rough night, but I’ll be okay again.”  
“Promise me you’ll go home,” Kara said. “Promise me you’ll go home, take a shower, put on your most comfy clothes, take a nap for a few hours.”  
“I can’t do that, Kara, I still have a lot of work to do,” Alex protested.  
The door behind them opened, revealing a still half sleeping Maggie.  
“I’ll take care of her, Little Danvers,” she said.   
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” Alex protested, throwing an angry look at the detective. Why was she getting herself involved? This was between herself and Kara.  
“Of course you don’t,” Maggie shrugged, “but you do need sleep and a fresh set of clothes, because you might not smell it anymore, but you reek of dead people. And you need food. So put away your pride for a few hours and let me take care of those things for you. After that, I’ll be out of your way if you want me to.”  
Alex thought about this offer. Her stomach agreed with the detective, and her nose did as well. Fine, betray me as well, she thought to her own body, I’ll give in.  
“Fine,” she said out loud. “But I want to be back here by noon, because those bodies aren’t going to dissect themselves.”  
“Deal,” Maggie smiled, the clock behind her telling Alex that it was now 8 in the morning.  
“I can live with that,” Kara shrugged. “But Alex, if there’s anything, call me. At least promise me that.”  
“I promise,” Alex smiled at her little sister and pulled her in for a hug.  
“Maggie’s right, by the way, you reek,” Kara laughed, causing the other women to laugh as well.


	26. Chapter 26

They had decided to take a taxi back to Alex’ place, so the doctor would be able to get showered and a fresh change of clothes. She didn’t live far from the precinct, but had already fallen asleep again against Maggie within the first minutes after getting into the car.

It gave Maggie a few minutes to herself, to think about what she wanted to do next.

On her way back to the precinct she had been rehearsing a speech in her mind, over and over again, about how they should be able to kiss the girls they want to kiss and other romantic stuff, mixed with sincere apologies for her behaviour. When she had found Alex like that, having a panic attack, all of that went out of the window. She realised she had been selfish again, assuming this was a good time for such a confession.

Of course it wasn’t, the woman has just been drugged and raped, you idiot, Maggie thought to herself. It would be selfish to expect anything from her right now, just because you’ve decided you’re ready for it.

No, Maggie decided, what Alex needed right now, was a friend. Someone who’d stand next to her, no matter how hard she might lash out. Someone to hold her when her world came crashing down around her. Someone to tell her everything was going to be okay again and mean it.  
That was the person Maggie would be for Alex right now, and it would be enough.

“Alex, we’re here,” she whispered when the driver pulled over.  
“What? Oh, okay,” the other woman took a second to realise where she was. “Let’s get inside, shall we?”

***SANVERS***

It had been two days since Alex had been inside her apartment. The other morning, her mom had brought her a change of clothes, so she could go straight to work from the DEO.  
It occurred to her that the last time she had been here, Maggie had been her as well, before she had run out on her. It was a thought she’d rather push away.

“I’m going to start on breakfast,” Maggie said. “Go take a shower and get changed, I’ll have coffee waiting for you when you get back.”  
Alex nodded and headed towards her closet to find herself some fresh clothes. Instead of picking out easy clothing to relax, she chose another work outfit, so they would be able to go back to work after this right away. The open floor plan of her apartment allowed her to watch the detective rummaging around her kitchen out of the corner of her eye.

She was grateful that Maggie had been the one to find her. Alex knew the other woman would never do anything to hurt her, and that she could her moment of weakness a secret. She didn’t blame her for calling Kara, because that’s what Alex would’ve wanted her to do. Winn knowing was an unfortunate necessity, since Kara wasn’t allowed to drive anymore and they were still on the waiting list for that guide dog. He wouldn’t tell anyone either, since he was scared to death of Alex, and he would do anything for Kara, who had probably asked him to not tell a soul.

Alex hated feeling so vulnerable. She hated Max and whoever had drugged her, had such an impact on her. Denying it obviously didn’t work, but she didn’t want to talk about it either.

Stepping into the shower, the hot water washed away all of her pain, even just for a second. Alex enjoyed the feeling of being whole again, unbroken, untainted. Kara had been right, this really did feel good.  
She started to feel hungry and sleepy, not having eaten since dinner with Maggie. She got out of the shower and made quick work of drying herself with the soft towels.

Instead of putting on her work clothes, Alex changed her mind and put on her robe that was hanging in the bathroom. Maybe a nap wouldn’t hurt.

But first food.

***SANVERS***

Maggie desperately tried to keep her hormones in check when she saw Alex exit the bathroom with nothing on but a robe.  
Keep your mind out of the gutter, Sawyer. Now is not the time.

“That smells delicious,” Alex said, seeing the freshly prepared food spread out on her counter. “Where did you find all of those ingredients?”  
“There was a box standing on the table, with a note: For Maggie, make my daughter breakfast please,” Maggie pointed at the cartboard box.  
“I’m guessing that would be from my mom,” Alex said. “She must have dropped it off yesterday. I’m trying not think of her assumptions when she tells you to make me breakfast,” she tried to keep the red off of her cheeks.  
Maggie laughed.  
“I’m assuming she’s assuming I would respect her daughter enough to not leave her alone after everything that has happened, and she must know you can’t cook to save your life,” she smiled, dimples full out. “Eat, Danvers, you must be starving.”

Halfway through her second plate, Alex must’ve noticed that Maggie wasn’t eating anything herself.  
“Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked.  
Maggie shook her head.  
“I’ll go get something on my way to the precinct when you’re taking a nap,” she said. She was already happy Alex had taken a shower and was eating, and looked like she intended to sleep a few hours as well.  
“Eat,” Alex said and pushed an empty plate towards the detective.

And so Maggie ate, and they both ate in silence.  
Maggie started to feel the effect of a full stomach on a two nights lack of sleep, but she wasn’t sure if she should leave the doctor alone after all that had happened.  
“Do you want me to go now?” she asked hesitantly, while cleaning up the mess she had made in the kitchen when cooking Alex breakfast. “So you can sleep?”  
The doctor seemed to need some time to think about her answer, so Maggie focused on washing up the last of the plates.  
“Stay?” she heard softly behind her.  
She turned around and threw Alex what she hoped was a comforting smile.  
“Of course,” she agreed.  
That answer seemed to make Alex happy, because the doctor smiled as well. She got up and walked towards her bed, while Maggie dried her hands and started for the couch.  
“No, come here.”  
She looked up and saw the former special agent motioning her to join her in bed.

Maggie swallowed and nervously climbed into the bed next to the other woman, who started speaking so quietly she had to strain her ears to hear her.  
“Last night, when you held me as I slept, I didn’t have any dreams,” Alex whispered an explanation.  
Maggie responded by putting her arms around the other woman, until they both lied comfortably.  
“Thank you,” she heard, and it didn’t take long for both of them to fall asleep.


	27. Chapter 27

For the second time that day, Alex woke up lying in Maggie’s arms. It gave her comfort, the soft breathing of the other woman close to her, reminding her to keep her own breathing steady and calm. A quick peek at her bedside clock told her they had only slept for a few hours, yet Alex felt completely refreshed.

She felt the arms around her tighten.  
“Five more minutes,” the detective mumbled, causing Alex to smile.  
“Okay,” she whispered, and cuddled closer into the other woman.

Laying there with nothing to do, Alex feared the thoughts and memories that had caused her panic attack earlier would return. But she didn’t need to fear a thing, her mind remained peaceful as she granted the other woman another five minutes to wake up.

“We should get up,” she said ten minutes later. “I meant it when I told Kara I want to get back to work to finish those autopsies.”  
Maggie’s eyes flew wide open, as if she just now realised where she was.  
“Right, the bodies,” she said, still trying to wake up her sleepy mind. “What time is it?”  
“It’s half past twelve,” Alex said after checking the clock again. “We can grab lunch on the way over, if you’d like?”  
“Sure, why not,” Maggie smiled at her. “Do you want to go on foot? It looks like a beautiful day and some fresh air won’t hurt us.”  
“Sounds like a great idea,” Alex said and she couldn’t help but to smile as well. “I’m going to get dressed.”

Just then it dawned on Alex she wasn’t wearing anything but a robe and she suddenly felt panic rise again in her chest.  
Maggie must’ve noticed her because she immediately pulled Alex closer again.  
“It’s okay, we’re just friends, right? Nothing has happened, we’re all good here. Everything is alright. You were tired and we fell asleep. That’s it. You are a very beautiful woman, Alex, but I would never do anything like that to you. Don’t worry about it.”  
Alex felt herself calm down by hearing those words. She snuggled closer for a second before getting up again to go change.   
“Thank you,” she said to Maggie, feeling calm and peaceful again. “I think I needed that.”  
“Always,” the detective smiled back, getting up as well. “I’ll make you a cup of coffee for the road.”

***SANVERS***

Maggie hesitated when she was about to enter the morgue.  
“Do you want me to stay?” she asked when Alex noticed her hesitation.  
“If you want to,” she shrugged, suddenly looking very small and insecure. “I mean, I could use your help with the paperwork. But please don’t feel like you have to.”  
Maggie walked over to the other woman and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
“I don’t feel like I have to, I want to. I just don’t want you to feel smothered or something loke that because of me always being around.”  
“I’d love for you to stay then,” Alex admitted.  
“Then I’ll stay,” Maggie smiled. “Would you mind if I’d go grab a quick shower first? I know I have a change of clothes lying in my desk.”  
“I’ll be fine, go take your shower. When you get back, we’ll have lunch,” the doctor said.  
“I’ll be right back,” Maggie smiled and ran up the stairs towards the precinct’s showers.

On her way back to the morgue, she ran into her partner.  
“What are you doing here? On a Saturday?” she asked, surprised to see him on the job during the weekend.   
“I forgot something yesterday, came to get it. What are you doing here?” he asked, obviously very curious as to why his partner hadn’t told him she’d be working.  
“The water heater in my apartment broke this morning, so I came to the precinct to take a shower,” she lied.  
“Oh okay,” he seemed to accept her story. “Well, I’ll see you on Monday then.”  
“Yeah, see you then,” she said, already dreading to have to see his face again.

Once she was certain Max was far enough, she took her DEO phone out of her jacket pocket and dialed.  
“Winn? It’s Maggie. Can you do me a favour? No, of course it doesn’t have to be now, you can do it on Monday if you’re busy, which I completely understand. It’s about Lord, I just ran into him at the precinct and it’s just so not him to be here on the weekends, especially not if he has declared the case a cold case. Can you check the security cams to see what he was doing while he was here? Thanks Winn, you’re the best.”

She went back to the morgue and found Alex already in lab coat busy with her first autopsy of the day.  
“Lunch?” Maggie suggested, and the doctor immediately agreed.   
“I’ll just finish this up and I’ll be right there,” she said.

***SANVERS***

“You know, you can tell me what’s on your mind,” Alex said, while they were eating. “I won’t break.”  
“I know,” Maggie smiled. “I just ran into Lord earlier. It’s just so not him to be here on a Saturday.”  
Alex felt her body freeze and focused very hard on her breathing to stay calm. She felt a hand cover her own and giving it a slight squeeze.  
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here and he’s not hurting you again,” she heard Maggie say.  
“I’m okay, just give me a minute.”

Alex hated this. The mere mentioning of the bastard’s name had almost caused her having another panic attack. If it hadn’t been for Maggie, she had been a goner.

“Thank you,” she said when she felt back in control. “You were saying?”  
“Well, it’s not normal for him to be here on a Saturday, so I’ve called Winn to check the security footage to see what he has been up to. He claimed to have forgotten something here yesterday, but my gut tells me he was lying to me.”  
“What did you tell him about you being here? Did you tell him I was here?” Alex asked. The last thing she wanted was for Lord to show up at her morgue.  
“I told him the heater broke down in my apartment so I came to take a shower here. With my hair all wet, I think he bought it,” Maggie said.  
“Good thinking,” Alex smiled. 

They finished the rest of their lunch enjoying each other’s company in silence. When they were done, Maggie walked back to Alex’ desk and picked up the remaining stack of papers.  
“Let’s go, Danvers,” she said.  
Alex was confused.  
“Where are you going with those notes? Are you going to sit upstairs?” she asked.  
She was suddenly dreading the thought of Maggie leaving her by herself.  
“No silly,” Maggie laughed, “I’m joining you in the morgue, so you’re not on your own.”  
“But what about the corpses?” Alex asked, still confused.   
“I’ll handle it,” Maggie assured her. “Now, didn’t you want to get this done?”


	28. Chapter 28

They worked well together, Alex had to admit. The presence of the detective didn’t bother her like other people’s would have, instead it calmed her and brought her focus. The autopsies went a lot quicker this way, and she didn’t have to worry about the paperwork afterwards. Maggie had at some point figured out how to read her handwriting and was now typing away furiously on the morgue’s desktop, while multiple screens were beeping and moving, indicating all programs moving on full power. Blood analyses, DNA-tests, comparing dental records, everything was working non-stop.

In the beginning Alex had expected Maggie had opted to sit with her in the morgue to keep a close eye on her, but it soon became clear that wasn’t the case. The detective had barely looked at her in the past hours, so focussed on what she was doing. It didn’t mean Alex wasn’t sneaking glances at the other woman, who looked so amazing just sitting there, working. When Maggie would be trying to decypher something Alex had scribbled down, she would frown and the tip of her tongue would appear in between her lips. Alex thought it was cute, the way she seemed lost to the world when she was concentrating like that.

Lucy had given her an impossible job, but Alex knew she hadn’t meant for her to get lost in it. The other night, the youngest Lane sibling could’ve never predicted. Alex tended to go all out when she was working on something, but she never pushed herself so far as she had done the other day. Lucy must’ve wanted to keep her busy, but also only trusted her best friend with a case like this. Alex was the undisputed best in her field, and was trained to be discrete. It’s not like she wasn’t used to working with classified information, after all those years at the DEO.

From the corner of her eye, Alex noticed a shift in the detective’s position.  
“Hey Danvers, we’ve being going at this for three hours straight now,” she said, “I need a bathroom break and some coffee. Do you want some coffee as well?”  
“Good idea,” Alex said, and stretched out her back. “I’ll walk with you, my muscles are starting to complain from sitting in the same position for too long.”

They both put down what they had been working on and started for the stairs.   
“Thanks for helping me,” Alex said, when they had reached the coffee machine.  
“No problem,” Maggie smiled, dimples all out, “I like helping you. It even helped me with feeling nauseous everytime I’m around corpses. I think they’re growing on me,” she joked, causing Alex to laugh.  
“Before you know it, you’ll be my assistant,” Alex laughed.  
“You’re sexy assistant, that is,” Maggie winked, and they both laughed.

“I’m going to use the bathroom real quick,” Maggie said. “Are you going back to the morgue?”  
“I’ll wait here for you,” Alex smiled. “Here, let me hold your coffee for you,” she said.  
“Thank you, I’ll be right back,” Maggie smiled and disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Alex sipped her coffee and looked around the precinct. It was the weekend, so there weren’t a lot of officers on duty. Of those who were, most of them were out on the streets, patrolling or on an intervention.   
She liked the quiet the weekends brought, she had liked them as well when she had still been working at the DEO. The quiet had always helped her to do more and better work, and with greater energy and joy. Her dad had always put her on shifts on the weekends, so they could enjoy family time in HQ. Often he had taken Alex apart and had brought her up to the giant telescope on the roof of the building to point out all the star signs. Alex knew all of them by heart and had always been quick to spot them. It had been easy to paint them on her wall, an exact representation of the night sky the last time she and her dad had gone stargazing.

She wondered what her dad would say to her now if he’d be here with her. Would he tell her to be strong? Or would he tell her it was okay to feel this hurt, this shattered? Maybe he would tell her to let others help her get through this? She didn’t know the answer to that question. She did know he would want her to hang in there and that he would’ve killed Maxwell Lord and whoever had drugged her. He would’ve probably threatened the shit out of Maggie as well, for leading his little girl on like that.

The smirk on her face must’ve still be visible when Maggie came back.  
“What are you smirking about?” she asked, smiling as well.  
“Just a thought, nothing really. Ready to get back to work?” Alex deflected the question. It was not like she could tell the other woman that she had been imagining her father threaten her with everything he had.  
“Sure, let’s go,” Maggie said as she accepted her coffee back.

***SANVERS***

To her own surprise, Maggie liked working in the morgue with Alex. Normally she got sick only thinking about being in the same room as a dead person for longer than five minutes, but now it didn’t seem to bother her. Normally she got really stressed when she had paperwork to do, especially the amount that she was processing right now. And normally being around Alex confused her, a mix of strong attraction and at least as strong denial fighting in her head and heart.  
This time around though, she felt at peace, as she continued working on those identification reports. Alex’ presence brought her calmth and the corpses didn’t bother her anymore.

While sipping from her coffee, Maggie looked at the doctor at work. It was amazing how a woman with such strength - she remembered her beating up those six guys all by herself - could work so delicately and precise on a deceased human being. With the uttermost respect she would cut them open and find the answer to their mysteries within their own body. It was almost like watching a painter create his new masterpiece or like a butterfly spread his wings for the first time, the simplicity of it all beholding all of the beauty in the world.

She looked back at the notes lying in front of her, because she knew that if she didn’t stop watching Alex now, she never would. That was the reason she had kept to herself the past few hours, without even sneaking a glance at the other woman. Watching her work was so magical, she was afraid she would never be able to stop doing it.

She had noticed the progress Alex was making, and was trying to keep up. There was a lot of researching to do first, Alex would enter the blood samples in the machine, but when they were done, Maggie would be the one to print out the results. Same on the DNA-samples. It was also Maggie’s job to enter the dental data into the computer after Alex had taken an X-ray, before the identification program could start its search.

Luckily for Maggie, the NCPD had invested in new equipment for the morgue, so the computer’s processor could handle so many actions at once. It worked very fast, and they also had a form where she simply had to type the right information next to the proper description.

Even though Maggie had intended to let Alex do her stuff if that was what she wanted, she also fully intended to make sure the other woman got regular meals and breaks throughout their autopsy marathon. She had already seen what happened when Alex had pushed herself too far, and she didn’t want to witness something like that again. The doctor might want to finish all of these bodies by the end of the weekend, she would do it with enough food and rest in her system at all times.

Maybe I should cook for her later today, Maggie thought, it would be a healthy nutritious meal that would give her more energy than all of that fast food she’s always consuming. And after that, she can take a nice long rest before we come in again tomorrow morning, very early.

Maggie liked that thought, cooking for Alex, taking care of her, the doctor sleeping in her arms. She had already had a little taste of it, and she was definitely without a doubt completely addicted to it. And if she had to be patient to get another chance to have all that was Alex Danvers, she would happily wait.


	29. Chapter 29

Alex woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Her favorite smell in the morning.  
If she was being completely honest with herself, a close second to Maggie’s perfume.

Speaking of, that perfume was immersed in her sheets and pillows, so Alex opted to stay in bed just a minute longer. 

Her little movements hadn’t gone undetected though, because she felt a little dip in the mattress next to her a few seconds later.

“Morning Danvers,” she heard and when she opened her eyes, Maggie was offering her a cup of coffee.  
“Morning Sawyer,” she smiled and sat up against the headboard. “You really know how to woo a girl, don’t you?”  
“If all it takes is coffee in the morning, I’m capable of holding my own in the wooing department,” the detective winked at her, nursing her own cup.  
Alex simply laughed and enjoyed her coffee.

This was not a bad morning, she thought to herself. She hadn’t had any nightmares, and she was woken up with a cup of coffee by a gorgeous woman. Not bad so far.

“So what are the plans for today? Back to work?” Maggie asked.  
“Still have to find out if one of them is murdered,” Alex shrugged. “I owe Lucy so much, I can’t just let the evidence go to waste.”  
“Of course not, just asking,” Maggie smiled. “I was just wondering, since it’s Sunday, if you had plans with Kara, that’s all.”  
“Sister Sunday? It’s not every Sunday, because Kara loves to spend time with my mother as well, you know, bonding time and such. She feels like she has to do an extra effort to get that mother-daughter relationship, since she was adopted.”  
“Kara is your adoptive sister?” Maggie wondered.  
“Yes, and at first we weren’t this close, at all. We’ve worked hard to get where we are now. I can’t imagine how she wasn’t my best friend at some point in time.”  
“I can imagine it’s not easy to get an extra sibling so unannounced.”  
“It wasn’t, especially at the verge of puberty. I have always felt that extra pressure,” Alex admitted. “To protect Kara, to be there for her, to be perfect. That’s why me and my mom often don’t see eye to eye on things.”  
“I think you’re perfect, Alex,” Maggie smiled softly.  
“I think you’re full of shit,” Alex laughed and gave the other woman a gentle shove, careful not to spill any coffee on the bed.  
Maggie joined in on the laughter, dimples full out.

“We should get ready,” Alex said when she had finished her coffee, “there’s still a lot of work to do at the precinct.”  
“Right, no problem,” Maggie said, finishing her own cup. “Do you mind stopping at my place? I need a fresh set of clothes.”  
“Maybe you should pack a bag,” Alex said, very nervous all of a sudden, “if you intend to stay over more often. For sleeping I mean, I’m not assuming, I just… I don’t have nightmares when you’re here… Please?” she rambled.  
“Of course, silly,” Maggie laughed. “I think packing a bag is a very good idea, I won’t have to go to my place each day for changing.”  
The fact that the detective was smiling calmed Alex down a little. Still, little butterflies had found their way to her stomach, amplifying what little nervousness was still left around the other woman.  
“Earth to Alex,” Maggie laughed again.  
“Sorry?”  
“You zoned out. We were about to get ready.”  
“Yeah sure. I’ll be right back.”

Alex grabbed fresh clothes and quickly made her way to her bathroom.

***SANVERS***

It was a good thing Alex had practically ran to the bathroom, because Maggie wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to contain her happy dance.  
The woman she was completely in love with, had practically begged her to stay over for the next couple of days. Granted, she wanted to feel safe and Maggie’s presence made feel that, but still. Being around Alex was always amazing and Maggie couldn’t stop the stupid grin from taking over her face.

She gathered the two empty cups and walked over to the sink to wash them up. This place was already starting to feel like home and she felt completely at ease.

While Alex was still in the shower, the doorbell rang. After double checking if she was in fact wearing pants, Maggie walked over to the front door and opened it.

“Maggie? I was kind of expecting Alex,” Lucy said, surprised to find the detective here, at this time of day.  
“She’s in the shower, she’ll be right out,” Maggie said, not at all fazed at the reaction of the prosecutor. “Come on in. Would you like some coffee?”  
“Coffee sounds great, thanks,” Lucy said, while she followed Maggie inside. “So how is she?”she asked.  
“Better than I think any of us had predicted, worse than she is prepared to show us,” Maggie answered while pouring them both a fresh cup of coffee. “Here,” she said and offered one of them to the other woman, who gladly accepted.  
“Thank you. So you’re here to keep an eye on her?”  
“She asked me to stay, so I stayed. It seems to help her, so I’m glad to do it.”  
“Any reason is a good one to stay with the woman you love, isn’t it?” Lucy grinned.  
“I’m that obvious, aren’t I?” Maggie shook her head. “It’s not my priority for Alex to know, though. I want her to feel better, not to feel pressured in a relationship. Not after what happened between us and not after what happened with Lord.”  
“What did happen between you two?” Lucy asked.  
“I lost control and got scared,” Maggie remembered the events of the evening. “After I left, she went to that bar and we all know what happened there.”  
“You blame yourself for what happened?”  
“I know I shouldn’t, because I never made someone drug her or Lord to take advantage of her, but I do. That evening, that night, could’ve gone so much differently and my fear of commitment made it all turn out for the worse,” Maggie admitted.  
“It’s not your fault, and we’re going to get whoever is to blame for it, I promise you that. But right now I’m just happy you’re putting Alex first and are taking care of her the way you do.”  
“Yeah, me too.”

***SANVERS***

Alex stood frozen in her bathroom. She had heard the doorbell ring and had turned of the shower immediately, curious who could be calling at her door this early on a Sunday morning. She had heard Maggie answer the door and the entire conversation between her and Lucy.

Now Alex didn’t know what she should do. Her heart fluttered at the thought of the detective putting her first and admitting that she was in love with Alex, but it scared the hell out of her as well. Right now, with everything that had happened and with how she had been feeling lately, there was no way she could commit to a relationship, even though being with Maggie was everything she wanted right now. The problem was, with a relationship came expectations, and Alex was one hundred percent certain she was not ready for those expectations. But how to tell Maggie that she wanted to be with her but she couldn’t? She didn’t even know how to tell her she had heard every word of that conversation in the first place?

It was obvious the other woman was content with how they were right now. Would it be selfish of Alex to keep it that way? Was she denying Maggie a chance to be happy like this?

All of the questions flooded her, and it felt as if the ground was opening up underneath her. Her heart rate went up, she started shivering and collapsed on the floor, her breathing ragged. Everything around her started to disappear, when she felt two strong arms wrap around her.


	30. Chapter 30

“It’s okay, Alex,” Maggie whispered. She was unsure what had triggered this new panic attack, but was very happy she had decided to go check on the doctor when she was staying away for so long.

The woman in her arms seemed to have found her bearings a little bit again, so she let go, only to be pulled closer again.

“Just a second,” Alex whispered, and Maggie let her pull her closer again.  
“Lucy is here to see you,” she said. “Do you think you’ll be okay? Or should I send her away?”

A few moments of silence passed before Alex inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.  
“I’ll be alright,” she said, and she got back up from the floor.  
Maggie followed her example and headed back to the kitchen.  
“She’ll be right out,” she said heard Maggie say to Lucy, who knew better than to ask.

“Luce,” she greeted her friend, pulling her in for a hug when she was close enough. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here so early on a Sunday morning?”  
“I came to check in on you. And to update you on work,” Lucy explained. “For that, it’s good that I found both of you here, so I’ll won’t have to call Maggie later today.”  
“You’re making me curious,” Maggie said, still sipping her cup of coffee.  
“Well, you know how the DEO is trying to find out which cop is rotten and involved in the Jane Doe case. I think there might be a pattern, and I’ve heard you guys thought so as well. That’s why I think this is big, very big, and we’ll need all hands on deck to figure it out. The problem is, I’ve talked to my dad, and he’s convinced it’ll be another dead end, that there is no mol in the precinct. He thinks we’re seeing ghosts, but he respects Alex too much to tell her that much.”  
“Sounds like something he’d do,” Alex shrugged. “We still got until Friday to prove him wrong though.”  
“That’s a small victory, but it’s nothing if we can’t prove it by then.”  
“We will,” Alex said, “if a certain prosecutor stops showering me in work.”  
Lucy laughed.  
“The world hasn’t stopped turning because we found a big case,” she said. “I still need to get the other bad guys, and I need the best M.E. on the case getting me all of the evidence.”  
“How do you plan on proving to your dad that our suspicions are correct?” Maggie asked.  
“I think the footage Winn has gotten is a very good start. He told me you were suspicious of Max’ behaviour, Maggie?”  
“Is this about what happened a few days ago?” Alex interrupted them. “I told you guys, he’s just a sleaze, that’s it. It doesn’t mean he’s involved in this or a dirty cop. I don’t want you guys to focus on him just because of what happened to me.”  
Maggie put her hand on her arm to calm her down.  
“I know what it looks like, Alex, but it’s not because of that, I promise. It’s because I saw him yesterday at the precinct, and he’s never at the precinct on the weekends. He seems very interested in what I’m doing, on other cases he never is. And he was very determined to call this a cold case as quickly as possible, because we hadn’t even been investigating for too long. That’s what makes him suspicious. What he did to you, makes him a sad excuse for a human being.”  
“Promise me you’re not starting some sort of witch hunt,” Alex said to Maggie, for a second forgetting Lucy was there as well.  
“I promise, Danvers,” Maggie smiled at her. “So what’s the plan?” she turned to Lucy, reminding Alex of her presence.  
“I’ve asked my dad to appoint the train accident case to you guys, on the one condition that Alex can prove that one of those bodies is a murder victim. That way you can keep investigating and busy, without Max getting suspicious. Maybe we can bury Max in paperwork while we’re at it.”  
“More like bury in me in paperwork,” Maggie snorted. “The guy will be busy pretending to be busy though.”  
Alex laughed.  
“Good enough!”

***SANVERS***

“Hey, that’s not nice, laughing at my workload!” Maggie pretended to be offended. “Don’t forget I’ve been doing your paperwork as well for the past few days.”  
“Which has been very much appreciated,” Alex smiled and she couldn’t help but to put her hand on the other woman’s.   
The physical contact calmed her nerves and she looked into Maggie’s eyes, finding nothing but care.  
“I think I should leave the two of you alone,” Lucy said after scraping her throat. “Maybe after you guys are done throwing heart eyes at each other, you can actually make yourself useful. The clock is ticking.”  
Alex looked down and smiled awkwardly, feeling caught like some lovesick teenager. From the corner of her eye she could see Maggie throw Lucy an angry stare.  
“Thanks for the coffee, Maggie. I’ll call you tomorrow to see what progress you guys have made,” the prosecutor ignored the angry stare, got up and left.

“Well that was definitely awkward,” Alex tried to lighten the mood, when she noticed the detective started to disappear in her own thoughts.  
“What? Oh yes, that friend of yours has no filter whatsoever. I have no idea why you like her so much.”  
The grin on Maggie’s face told Alex she was just kidding.  
“You know, I’ve heard you two talk,” she said, the other woman’s face immediately turning into one filled with concern.  
“It’s that what triggered the panic attack?” the detective asked.  
“No… I mean, maybe… I don’t really know,” Alex admitted truthfully.

***SANVERS***

“I’m sorry you had to hear it like that,” Maggie said. “I had this whole speech prepared, about how we should be able to kiss the girls that we want to kiss and that life’s too short, but then I found you having a panic attack and decided against telling you. I was still waiting for the right time to that, though,” she felt herself starting to ramble.  
Nerves flooded her body. Alex had heard. Alex knew now. Alex knew how she felt.  
The reaction of the other woman to that news had been to have a full blown panic attack. That couldn’t be good, that probably meant she had pushed some boundary, had triggered something after those traumatic events. Maybe Alex had never intended her to fall in love, just to have fun.

Doubts filled her mind as time appeared to be standing still. She could see Alex trying to process everything and she prayed to every god she had ever heard about that the other woman wouldn’t have another panic attack.

“So, you’re saying you like me?” Alex grinned, and put her arms around Maggie’s neck. “That’s what I got.”  
Maggie couldn’t help but grin at that as well.  
“You scare the shit out of me, Alex, but in a very good way,” she said, feeling a lot more at ease right now with Alex so close.  
“Still getting that you like me,” the doctor smiled.  
Maggie shook her head, laughing.  
“Yes you idiot, I like you,” she said, “a lot. And I really want to kiss you.”  
The smile on Alex’ face almost split it in half when she pulled the detective closer and pressed her lips against hers.

It was a soft kiss, full of caring, full of promise, but also a very careful kiss.

“We’ll take things slow,” Maggie promised, when they broke apart, foreheads still pressed together. “You can chose the pace, and I will follow. I promise I will always follow.”

Alex pulled her in for another kiss.

“For the record,” the doctor grinned, “if it hasn’t been obvious to you by now, I like you too. A lot.”  
And she kissed her again.


	31. Chapter 31

They had spent another hour together on the couch, an hour filled with soft kisses and warm cuddling, until Maggie had pointed out that there were still a lot of corpses waiting for them in the morgue. Alex had agreed and they had left together for the precinct, opting to take Alex bike out for a change.

“Awesome bike, Danvers,” Maggie smiled. “That’s some quality riding you get to do with that.”  
“It really is an amazing bike,” Alex smiled as well. 

They walked into the precinct, only meeting on duty officers. 

“So I’m guessing Lucy is going to give us a head start,” Alex said while hanging up her leather riding jacket and changing into her lab coat. “The old Lane never works on weekends, and he’s the one who’ll call you and Max to fill you in on the train case.”  
“Isn’t Max going to get suspicious that you’ve gotten so much done already on your own?” Maggie wondered. She really wanted to do this right, because there was too much at stake.   
“As if he knows how much work goes into an autopsy,” Alex shrugged, and Maggie had to agree.  
“You’re probably right. So, put me to work again, Danvers, I’m all yours,” she said.  
“That’s what you told me this morning,” the doctor smiled and pulled Maggie closer for a quick kiss.   
Maggie laughed as well, enjoying to get to see this side of the other woman again.

“I’m just going to check in with Kara real quick,” Alex said, “but I think there’s still stuff left on my desk from yesterday’s work. You can start with that.”  
“Consider it done,” Maggie smiled and watched as the other woman closed the door of her office behind her.

She couldn’t believe how this morning had turned out. It had scared her so much to tell the other woman how she felt, she had been so afraid of commitment, and now everything felt so perfect, so right. Alex had been hurt and would need time to heal, but she wasn’t doubting Maggie’s commitment, never once asked her if she would run away from her again. The forgiving side of Alex was one of the things Maggie loved about her. That and she had looked mighty fine in that leather riding jacket.

Trying to get her hormones back in check, Maggie started to turn on all of the computers. It was going to be a long week, but she didn’t mind, because she was with Alex now. And that was all what counted.

***SANVERS***

“Alex! Are you okay?” Kara sounded worried on the phone.  
“I’m fine, Kara,” Alex tried to ease her worries. “I’m calling to tell you that, actually. That, and Maggie told me she loved me this morning.”  
“What?” she heard her little sister squeal in delight. “She told you that this morning? And you’re only calling me right now?”  
“Well technically I overheard her telling Lucy, but she confirmed it later. I’ve been with her all morning, Kara, that’s why it has taken me so long to call you.”  
“And are you okay? I mean, with everything that has happened, is she being respectful of that? Of you?”  
“Kara, it’s Maggie we’re talking about,” Alex smiled at her sister’s concern. “She is super understanding and allows me to set the pace of this relationship. She feels really sorry she has sent mixed signals earlier. I feel so happy,” she admitted.  
“You deserve to be happy, Alex.”  
“I know,” she sighed. “I got another panic attack though, when I heard her tell Lucy.”  
“Oh Alex, I’m so sorry. Are you okay now?” the concern and worry reappeared in Kara’s voice.  
“I am, thanks to Maggie. It’s just that, she has told me we can go as slowly as I need us to go, but what if she gets bored of me? What if she feels like we’re going to slow? What if she discovers I’m more broken that she can handle?”  
Alex could feel her breathing go faster again and tried to focus on the soft kisses Maggie had given her earlier.  
“Alex, are you okay?” Kara asked again.  
She took a few moments to gather herself again, before answering.  
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said.  
“I don’t think you should be afraid of going to slow, Alex. That woman obviously loves you, even I can see that. She’ll never do anything to hurt you, not intentionally, because you have me and I know a small army of the best Special Agents walking this planet. And I intend to tell her that next time I see her.”  
Alex started laughing.  
“I feel so sorry for her already,” she laughed. “I need to go back to work, Kara, but don’t worry, Maggie is here with me. Say hi to mom for me.”  
“I will do that. Love you, Alex.”  
“Love you too, Kara.”

With that, Alex hung up and returned to the morgue, where she found her favorite detective already working hard. 

***SANVERS***

Maggie looked up at Alex when she heard her enter the morgue again.  
“Good call?” she asked, not wanting to pry.  
“Always, with Kara,” the doctor smiled and walked over to the freezer to collect her first body of the day.  
“Great,” Maggie smiled, and focused on her work again.

They worked in silence for a few hours, before Maggie could hear the doctor’s stomach rumble all the way over to where she was sitting. She started laughing.  
“Danvers, if you’re hungry, we can take a break and get some food, you know,” she laughed, causing the doctor to look up.  
Alex grinned sheepishly.  
“I just got so focused on finishing this, I forgot what time it is. I’d like to finish this one first, if that’s okay with you?” she asked.  
“If you’re okay to stay here on your own for a little while, I can go get some sandwiches from that place around the corner?” Maggie offered.  
“That sounds great,” Alex smiled. “Thank you.”  
“Any time,” Maggie smiled.  
She put down the notes she had been working on and walked over to where the doctor had been working.  
“They kind of know my regular already,” the woman grinned, causing Maggie to laugh again.  
“Great,” she said and bent down to give Alex a small kiss. “I’ll be right back. Call me if you need me, okay?”  
“I will,” Alex smiled, when her stomach made another loud noise. “Now go get me some food, woman,” she laughed, causing Maggie to laugh even harder.  
“I’m already so whipped,” she laughed while exiting the morgue.  
“As you should be!” she heard the doctor call after her.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back... I'm really sorry for going MIA on you guys, for almost three months, but life happened, you know. And the longer you stop writing on a story, the scarier it gets to start writing on it again. 
> 
> Right now, just to get back to writing, I'm pushing myself to write 500 words per day. I think I promised you guys 50000 words, didn't I? It won't make a chapter a day, and I do feel kind of rusty, but hopefully it will get me back in my flow.
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos you still left, they gave me the courage and the push I needed to get back to this story. It's thanks to all of you guys that I'm writing again, so THANK YOU!
> 
> Enjoy and let me know what you think!

It was four in the afternoon when Alex suddenly started mumbling to herself.  
“God damned, she was right,” Maggie heard her say.  
“What’s that, babe?” she asked, not really thinking about the term of endearment she was using.  
The doctor looked up and grinned.  
“Babe, eh?” she asked, still grinning.  
“Does it bother you?” Maggie asked carefully.  
“Not at all, babe,” Alex stressed her last word.  
“So what have you found?” the detective tried to get the doctor’s attention to her previous question.  
“Lucy was right. This one was already dead when the train crashed. I probably wouldn’t have even found it if I hadn’t known I was looking for a murder victim. Blunt force trauma to the head, but the other bruises, probably from the crash, are post mortem. I should call her, tell her what I’ve found.”  
“Great work,” Maggie said. “It means we can keep Max distracted for a little while, so I’m happy.”  
The other woman had already taken out her phone and was speed dialing the prosecutor. She put her phone on speaker when she heard the dialing tone.

“Lane?” they heard.  
“Lucy, it’s Alex and Maggie. You’re on speaker right now. I found your murder victim.”  
“I knew it!” she exclaimed. “Can you send me the paperwork today? I need to talk about it here before I can send it to my dad.”  
“Consider it done,” Maggie said, having walked over to stand next to Alex. “We’ll get it to you in a few hours. Do you think there is more than one murder victim?”  
“My source wasn’t too clear about that. I think it’s definitely possible that there are more.”  
“We’ll keep looking then,” Alex said. “Talk to you later, Luce.”  
“Good job you two,” the prosecutor said. “Talk to you later,” and she ended the call.

A few hours later Maggie had finished the report on the murder victim.   
“Done,” she said. “Do you want to bring it over to Lucy yourself and go grab a bite to eat somewhere on our way back?”  
“Sure, sounds great. Just give me a few minutes to finish this one up, and we’ll get out of here.”

Maggie pressed print and while she waited for the documents to get printed, she watched the doctor work.  
She’s even more beautiful when she focused like that, she thought to herself. I really need to keep my act together, so I can keep this one.  
“You’re staring,” she heard Alex say, the laughter obvious in her voice.  
“Shouldn’t be so damn pretty then,” Maggie said.  
She picked up the freshly printed report and put it in a large manilla envelope.  
“Ready when you are,” she said and continued her unabashed staring.

***SANVERS***

“Come on in,” Lucy Lane said after she found the two women on her doorstep. “Are you hungry? I made some pasta.”  
“Sure, why not?” Alex said, looking at Maggie to get her consent. The detective simply nodded.  
“Here’s the report you asked for,” the latina said, while handing Lucy the manila envelope. “One murder victim, as you asked for.”  
“You are the best, Alex,” Lucy said. “I knew you were right for the job. Let’s hope this case can get our mol distracted long enough for Maggie to identify them.”  
“With some luck Winn will find something,” the detective said.  
“So I’ll get this case appointed to you first thing tomorrow morning,” Lucy said. “Please tell me you guys aren’t going back to that morgue tonight.”  
Maggie looked at Alex, but saw her shake her head.  
“No way, I need a break,” she said.  
“Woa Danvers, what got into you?” the youngest Lane asked, genuinely surprised. She knew her friend wasn’t usually able to let go of an ongoing case and relax.  
“I think you guys were right about me pushing myself too far to forget what has happened. If I want to do justice by our Jane Doe, I should be able to bring my A-game. And I can’t do that when I’m exhausted. We’ve got your murder victim, we’ve bought ourselves some time and some breathing space, the rest can wait until Monday.”  
“Are you hearing this?” Lucy asked Maggie. “It’s not just me who is hearing these words coming out of Alex Danvers’ mouth, is it? Is she honestly telling me I was right?”  
Maggie laughed.  
“I think there’s nothing wrong with your ears, Lane. Now where’s that pasta? I’m starving!”

***SANVERS***

The three women opted to eat their dinner in front of the TV and found themselves on Lucy’s couch not much later. The prosecutor had only lifted an eyebrow in question when Alex made herself comfortable close to Maggie, but hadn’t voiced her real question. Maggie had simply shrugged. If Alex was ready to define whatever this was, she could, but the detective had made her a promise to follow her pace and she wasn’t planning on breaking that promise.

The closeness to Alex did make the butterflies in her stomach do summersaults, making it almost impossible to eat. It was still hard to believe that only that morning, Alex had accidentally overheard Maggie talking to Lucy, which had resulted in soft kisses and cuddles and promises of more. It still scared her, what this could all mean. But right now, she decided she would ignore that fear in favor of enjoying the soft pressing of the beautiful doctor’s back to her side.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm past the 40.000 words mark!

Monday morning came way too fast for Maggie’s taste. It signaled the start of their undercover op, trying to catch a killer on a train while unmasking the precinct’s mol. She had felt the nervous anticipation ever since Alex’ alarm clock had rung a few hours prior.

Sunday evening had been calm and quiet, a welcome reprieve of the chaos of the previous days. Alex had stopped on her way home at Maggie’s apartment, so the detective could pick up some spare clothes. It had been decided without speaking that Maggie would stay the night again, because it would help Alex get some peaceful sleep, as it had done the last couple of nights. And who was Maggie object?

Right now she was trying to calm her nerves, before entering the precinct. Alex had driven them over, and was now securing her bike, while Maggie was eyeing the building in front of her.

They had gone over the plan multiple times last night, trying to get it as foolproof as possible. Alex would divide her attention between the DEO and the rest of those corpses, while Maggie tried to catch the killer and kept thinking of new ways to find their mol. Winn and the DEO got the brunt of the job, trying to follow every lead they can to figure out who killed Jane Doe. 

Maggie got pulled out of her train of thought when she felt soft fingers entangle themselves between their own. She looked up at a smiling Alex, who softly pressed her lips against hers.  
“Ready?” she asked.  
“I was born ready,” the detective grinned and led the way.

***SANVERS***

The morgue was quiet without a certain feisty latina, Alex thought. Her mountain of paperwork also higher, she discovered.   
Maggie had gotten quite a lot done the past few days, while the doctor had been non-stop dissecting corpses. Now she had still over ten bodies left, but only the paperwork for eight of the autopsies she had already done, were left.  
Grabbing her cellphone, she typed out a quick ‘thank you’ text for the detective and pressed sent. She immediately received an answer, a winking emoji throwing her a kiss.  
A smile found her way to her face and stayed there when she started on her first body of the day.

It was a little past ten, when Alex heard her phone ring. It was her special DEO-phone, so she hurried to pick it up.  
“Danvers,” she said.  
“Alex, it’s Winn. You should come down here. Bring Maggie.”  
“I can try to steal her away for a lunch break, think that will work for you guys?”  
She heard a little mumbling on the background.  
“J’onn says fine. See you at noon then, Alex.”  
“Bye Winn.”

She quickly dialed another number on her phone.

***SANVERS***

It had taken Sergeant Detective Lane exactly five minutes to call Maggie and Detective Lord into her office, after she had arrived. The cause of those five minutes, were the five minutes Lord was late, as usual.  
The older Lane had explained the case to them, and Maggie had done her best to look as if she heard all of the the information for the first time. Her partner didn’t seem to notice, so she must’ve pulled it off.

“Damn, another case already,” Max complained, when they sat back down at their desk, to process the information they had just been given. “I had hoped for a few weeks of peace and quiet after that Jane Doe case.”  
“Tough luck,” Maggie shrugged. “We need to go see the doc soon, but I’d like to read up a little first. What do you say, the morgue in an hour?”  
“Fine by me,” her partner shrugged and started reading something on his computer screen.

It had never occured to Maggie just how much she disliked Maxwell Lord, until now. Even with everything that happened with Alex, she hadn’t realised it, but now, while he was pretending to be working, to let Maggie do his part as well, the full extent of her disliking became clear to her. He wasn’t just a sleaze, who tried to pick up every female in this planet, and an entitled rich kid who thought the right amount of money and his parents’ death excused him for everything. He also was the worst cop she had ever met, probably buying his way inside, and Maggie felt sorry for herself to be partnered up with him.

Trying to distract herself from her anger, the latina woman focused on the information they already had on the victim, wishing the hour would pass by quickly so she would be able to see Alex again.

***SANVERS***

“Doctor Danvers, always a pleasure,” Alex heard the voice of the man she was starting to really hate, behind her.  
“Detective Lord,” she said without looking up, “I wish I could say the same.”  
She felt a hand give a soft squeeze in her upper arm and it took all the restraint she had not to simply punch the owner in the face. Instead, she looked up and was relieved for not punching, since it was Maggie who had given her the comforting squeeze.  
“Hi,” she smiled, causing a similar smile to appear on Alex’ face.  
“You, on the other hand, I am always happy to see you,” the doctor smiled.

“Get a room,” they heard the male detective getting uncomfortable.  
With a smirk at Maggie, Alex decided not to react to that.  
“Lunch?” she asked the detective, who nodded in agreement. “Good, I’m guessing you’re here for the murder victim we found hidden away in a train crash?”  
“What can you tell us?” Maggie asked, and pretended that all Alex was saying was new to her, and that she hadn’t typed up that report herself only the day prior.   
Alex knew this, but also knew this show was necessary to keep everyone off their trail while they would look for the mol. So she tried to give as much information as she could, facing Maggie solely and ignoring her partner, who didn’t seem to be listening anyway.  
What a douche, Alex found herself thinking. It’s a disgrace he can call himself a police officer.

When Alex was done, both detectives thanked her before leaving her back to her work.  
“See you at lunch,” Maggie said before walking away, and Alex could swear the detective put an extra sway in hips, just for her.

***SANVERS***

It took Maggie the rest of the morning to put together a list of possible suspects, along with possible motives. Their victim was a thirty-one year old male, worked IT on the university campus and had multiple priors for drug possession. Finding old enemies was easy, finding new ones not so much. He was more of a loner, so it seemed, but Maggie noted down the names of his co-workers to pay them a visit, to aid her in building a character description. She had given her partner the task to research their victim online and follow up on their tech once they had confiscated the victim’s computer. Him being an IT guy, there would be much to find on that computer, Maggie mused.

Lunch came quick enough and Max made a point out of stretching with a loud moan to showcase the amount of work he had done (which was little to none, as Maggie was sure of).   
“I’m going for lunch outside, so I’ll see you back here,” he told his partner. “Have fun having lunch with the doc.”  
“Jealous, Lord?” Maggie raised an eyebrow.  
“Nope,” he said, popping the p. “Been there, done that.”  
In a split second, Maggie was on her feet and right in his face.  
“Take that back,” she hissed, only receiving a malicious grin in return.  
“Or what?” Lord challenged her. “You’ll punch me in front of the entire detective squad?”  
Maggie was fuming, but she knew he was right. Punching Lord, no matter how satisfying that would be, would get her suspended and in no position to find their mol.  
Taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly, she took a step back from the man she despised.  
“You’ll get what’s coming to you, Lord. Don’t you dare to forget that,” she promised, before grabbing her leather jacket and walking away.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day, lucky you ;-)

“We need to go,” Alex said, as soon as Maggie arrived at the morgue.  
Maggie nodded and followed Alex out to her bike.

The detective had no idea where they were going, trying to recognise landmarks to give her an indication of where they were going. She figured Winn would’ve called Alex, and they were heading towards the DEO, but where that was, she had no idea. The only time she had been there, was when Alex had been hurt and her thoughts had been too much all over the place to remember which route they had taken.

Alex didn’t seem to be searching for landmarks, having driven over to the DEO thousands of times while she was still working there. It didn’t take them more than ten minutes before she maneuvred herself into a parking spot in an underground garage.

“We’re here,” she said, and Maggie appreciated that Alex trusted her to have figured out by now where here was exactly. “Winn called earlier, said he had something to show us.”  
“Then let’s go,” Maggie said and followed the former special agent to the elevators.   
Alex typed in a code on a typepad and the elevator took off.

Only a few minutes later they were standing in a meeting room, the same one Maggie had been called to after they had brought Alex in. She recognised Winn and J’onn Jones, and greeted them both.

“You said you needed us here. So talk,” Alex said, and Maggie immediately could see how Alex would’ve been as Special Agent Danvers.  
“I followed up on that lead Maggie gave me, the missing person files that never got logged. I checked all of the camera angles and time stamps and I found a total of four officers who look suspicious. As you can see on this one,” Winn started explaining as he pulled up a video on the big screen with a simple swipe on his tablet, “the officer on reception duty is simply doing his job, but there’s another officer hanging around the reception area, not really doing anything. They are close enough to hear what is said, yet far away enough not to be noticed. After the report is made, they appear to offer the officer on reception duty to file the report for them and leave with the paperwork. As I have already said, I have found four officers showing this behavior, all but one always make a phone call afterwards.”  
“We’ve got more than one mol,” Maggie said in surprise.  
“But one ringleader,” J’onn deducted. “We pulled up their cell phone records. All those phone calls go to the same number. And that number, unlisted as it is, coincidentally is always near the phone of the fourth officer.”  
“Show me that fourth officer,” Maggie told Winn, anger boiling in her blood for someone to foul the uniform like that.

Winn pulled up another still screen.

“Roulette,” Alex and Maggie said, both at the same time.

***SANVERS***

Alex could more feel than see the woman next to her seething in anger. She took a hold of her hand, interlacing their fingers, in an effort to calm her down.  
“We went to the academy together,” the detective said. “She took her oath right next to me.”  
The doctor simply squeezed her hand, to let her know she understood.  
“Detective Sawyer, I’m sorry I can’t allow you to take your time to process this information. Time is of the essence now and we can’t stall now that we’ve gotten ourselves a lead. I would like to go over our next move with you, if that’s okay with you?”  
Alex felt Maggie squeeze her hand back and then let go.  
“What do you need me to do?” she asked.  
“Just a minute, detective. Alex, Kara said you wanted to see her? She’s in her usual spot.”  
Alex nodded and hurried to go find her sister, leaving a confused detective behind.

“Alex,” Kara said, as soon as her older sister opened the door.  
“Hi Kara,” Alex smiled. It always felt so nice to see her little sister in her element.  
The DEO tends to see the strengths in people, and Kara might not be able to see much anymore, but her sense of smell and her hearing were extraordinary. J’onn had appointed her to the forensic team, listening to audio tapes, where she would discover things the computer programs couldn’t, and using her sense of smell in the same way. Many cases had been solved thanks to Kara’s superpowers, as the Danvers’ sisters called them.  
“You wanted to see me?” the younger sister asked.  
“I wanted to pick your brain,” Alex said.  
“And Maggie couldn’t help you?” Kara wondered. “I heard she’s an amazing detective.”  
“Maggie is too close to this to help me, I’m afraid,” Alex explained. “It’s about that night in the bar, when I got drugged. When I talk about it with Maggie, she looks at me as if I’m about to have another panic attack. I understand her fear, because she was the one who has found me each time, but I don’t like not doing anything to answer the questions that have been bothering me.”  
“And what questions may that be?” her sister asked.  
“The main question is how the hell they were able to drug me. I mean, you know how extensive my training was, and how I should be able to see everything, even distracted. I just don’t get it. It should be impossible.”  
Kara nodded.  
“I have been wondering about that as well. It should’ve been impossible, yet you were very clearly drugged, your results showed it.”  
“I felt like it as well, thinking back to it. It was as if I was thinking things with another mind or something,” Alex said. “So I was definitely drugged. The question remains how. There’s no way someone could’ve slipped something into my glass.”  
“What if they didn’t?” Kara said, lost in thought.  
“What do you mean?” Alex asked, confused.  
“What if they didn’t slip something into your glass. What if the drug was already in the bottle?” Kara asked.  
“Then they would drug everyone in the bar who was drinking scotch like me,” Alex shook her head.  
“Unless they had more than one bottle,” Kara offered.  
“You’re brilliant, you know that?” Alex smiled and kissed her sister on top of her head.  
“So I’ve been told,” she heard the other woman laugh while she was leaving.

***SANVERS***

By the time Alex had returned, Maggie had been briefed and they really needed to leave if they wanted to pick up something to eat and get back to the precinct on time. Not much was said between the two woman as they hurried to back.  
When Alex had parked her bike, Maggie pushed herself up against the other woman and kissed her deeply. If the doctor was surprised, she didn’t show it, kissing the latina back with as much need.  
“I’m sorry we couldn’t do that more during our break,” Maggie said after they had to break the kiss in desperate need of air, their foreheads still touching.  
“Let me make it up to you tonight,” Alex smiled.  
“I’m cooking,” Maggie said, “because after that quick lunch, I’m in dire need of some decent food.”  
Alex laughed and pecked the detective on the lips once more.


	35. Chapter 35

Time crawled by in the morgue. After an entire weekend of binging those autopsies, Alex found herself at a point she thought she’d never reach: she got tired of them.   
Maybe the promise of dinner with a beautiful detective isn’t helping, she smirked to no one but herself. She found herself really looking forward to it, to spending some more time with Maggie.

Alex distracted herself from the current body laying on her slab by contemplating if she should tell Maggie about her talk with Kara and their new hypothesis. She really wanted to go back, see if Kara was right, but she didn’t want to go back to that place where he… where that thing happened. The doctor was really scared she might get another panic attack, and she didn’t want to show that weakness to anyone, especially not to the people in that bar. On the other hand, Alex didn’t want to send someone else in, she didn’t want the same thing that had happened to her, to happen to someone else.

It was a dilemma, and it wouldn’t help her by telling Maggie about it, because the detective would prohibit Alex to go back or send someone else in undercover. She would send in the cavalry and everyone would know Alex Danvers had gotten drugged and … It was not something she wanted to be common knowledge.

Would Maggie really do that to her? Would she put her secret out there, just to catch the bad guys? Alex quickly decided that she wouldn’t do that. She knew the other woman loved her and would do anything for her.

What if Maggie would want to go in herself? Alex didn’t want that either, even though the other woman had proven her worth before. But so had Alex, and she had been a victim. She felt the urge to protect the detective. Maybe with back up from the DEO?

Alex was starting to hate herself for being so weak, for becoming the victim, instead of the hero. She hated that she still felt so weak, so powerless, and that she couldn’t even get to the bottom of what had happened herself.

I need to talk to someone about this, she decided after an hour of staring into nothingness, so it might as well be Maggie.

***SANVERS***

Maggie didn’t like this part of her job: notifying the next of kin. She liked it even less because she had to bring that insensitive douche along, being her partner.

In this case, it was very strange, because the parents and girlfriend of their victim had already been notified of his passing. It was now their job to tell them they thought he had been a victim of foul play.

In her years of experience, Maggie had been often the bearer of bad news. The way the people closest to the victim reacted to such news was very different, and in most cases gave them expert character witnesses and prime suspects. Max ofcourse never noticed, being to lazy to even pay attention when she was giving her condolences.

She was in luck, because the girlfriend of their victim was at his parents’ house when they arrived there, to grieve for their loss together and plan the funeral, even though the body hadn’t been released yet. It was the girlfriend who opened the door for them.

“Good afternoon, Miss Sar, my name is Detective Sawyer and this is my partner Detective Lord,” Maggie introduced themselves and flashed her ID. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but would it be possible to take up a minute of your time? It’s about Jake.”  
“Of course, come on in,” she said, probably wondering why two detectives were interested in a train crash. “His parents are inside as well, I assume you’d like to talk to them as well?”  
“If that would be possible,” Maggie nodded.

The woman led the two detectives to the living room, where an elder couple sat on the couch. Maggie introduced herself and her partner again, thanking them for their time.  
“What can we help you with, detectives?” the elder woman asked. It hurt Maggie to see how broken she was.  
“I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am,” the detective said, “I know you asked for the body of your son back, but I’m here to inform you that won’t be possible right away. We have reasons to believe his death wasn’t caused by the train accident.”  
“What?” Miss Sar yelled, and the shock was visible on all their faces. “What do you mean, it wasn’t caused by the accident?”  
“We got a tip that one of the victims had died on the train prior to the crash, so our M.E. examined all of the bodies. She found that your son, your boyfriend, died of blunt force trauma to the head, and was dead before the accident. We are still working on processing the rest of the bodies, but for now, Michael’s body is evidence in a murder investigation.”

They seemed to be needing some time to process what they had just been told, so Maggie stayed respectfully silent, all the while scanning the emotions and facial expressions of the three people in front of her.  
The parents were both truly shocked with the news, so Maggie guessed they were unaware of their son’s drug business. She felt sorry for them, probably proud of the successful IT job their son had, and now all the dirt on him would come out.  
His girlfriend, Miss Sar, didn’t seem to be so shocked. Maggie didn’t think she knew about the murder, but she definitely knew about the shady friends Michael used to have.

After a few minutes, Maggie cleared her throat.  
“I’m sorry I have to ask you this, but do you know of someone who might want to do your son harm?” she asked.  
Both parents shook their head, saying their son didn’t have any enemies, he was so lovable, everybody loved him.  
The girlfriend seemed to hesitate, before agreeing with the parents.

“That’s alright,” Maggie said. “Please, if you remember anything that might help us, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”  
She handed them her card, making sure the girlfriend had her own and to linger a few seconds when she handed it to her. She hoped that without her in-laws present, she would be more forthcoming.  
“Thank you for your time,” Maggie said, before leading Max out of the house, still as disinterested as he was coming in.


End file.
